The Pretty Wrecked
by SereneCalamity
Summary: They came from two completely different worlds, but they were both as wrecked as each other. Clace.
1. Chapter 1

_Hey, so I'm trying something a little different...Bit nervous about this...Let me know what you think...I apologize for any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors. _

_Disclaimer: I do not own the characters. _

"Maia! Where's Clare?" Sebastian Verlac shouted over the pounding music. Maia Roberts blinked blurily at the tall blonde next to her and shook her head, shrugging. Sebastian narrowed his eyes and swept his eyes around the room for the umptenth time that night. There was no sign of the petite red head anywhere and he growled under his breath. "When did you last see her?" He turned his attention back to Isabelle, who was breathing in deeply from the bong that was being passed around the wooden table. "Oi, Maia—"

"Ohmygod, the last time I saw her she was sucking on your cock," Maia growled. "If you've lost her since then, that's your problem, not mine!"

"Fucking hell," he growled, scratching the back of his neck and walking away from the group who were getting stoned. He walked out of the lounge and into the kitchen, where a girl was on the bench with her legs wide open, a guy standing between them, his hand busy at her crotch. He went into the hallway, glancing in the bedrooms of the apartment as he went, but despite the fact there were over thirty people in the tiny place, none of them was Clarissa Fray. He leaned against the door frame leading back into the lounge when a tall, brunette stumbled into him. She smiled as she steadied herself against him.

"Hey," she murmured.

"Hi," Sebastian said shortly, turning his gaze back out over the room.

"You want a drink?" She asked.

"Yeah, a beer would be good," he told her, just wanting her to leave him alone. She teetered off on her high heels, and he let his eyes follow after her. She was wearing a short blue dress that showed her the bottom of her ass and was so low at the front her tits were nearly falling out. She wasn't half bad looking, and given he didn't have a clue where the girl he wanted to get on top of. "What's your name, doll?"

"Brianna," she replied as she handed him the beer she had got for him. He twisted off the cap of the beer and threw it on the ground. "What's yours?"

"Just call me Seb," he told her, taking a long drink from the beer. She stared up at him, clearly interested by the way she rubbed herself against him. He could see in her eyes that she was drunk, as if he hadn't already gathered it from the way she was walking, and he knew it wouldn't take much to get her down the hall to his own apartment. Hell, with the way she was acting, _she_ would probably lead _him_ down the hall.

"Are you here with anyone, Seb?" Brianna asked, scanning the room for any jealous females watching them. There were a couple, but only the kind that were watching because she was talking to one of the best looking guys in the room. None of them were actually making any moves to come over and mark their territory. He offered her a sip of her beer, which she accepted, although she had drunk so much already she didn't really taste the bitter liquid. Sebastian slung his arm around her neck, his hand resting just above her breast and she arched her back so that her chest stuck out a little more, his fingers brushing against the skin of her cleavage exposed by her low dress.

"Nah, I'm not here with anyone, doll," he said, taking the beer back from her and finishing it. "But I'm leaving with you."

"Oh yeah?" She raised an eyebrow at him, trying to act coy.

"Yeah," Sebastian jerked his head in a nod.

"What makes you think I'm that easy?" She teased him. Sebastian was smart enough not to give his honest answer, which was '_well, because you look like a hoe'_.

"Come on, doll," he tightened his arm around her neck, pulling her in closer and dropping his face down to her level. "Come back with me." She stared up at him for a moment before nodding, a slow smirk spreading across her face as though she had accomplished something. It was a girl thing, he had seen it before. They thought they were so special when someone singled them out, like they were the ones with the upper hand.

But all he wanted was her mouth and her cunt and then she was out on her skinny ass.

They reached his apartment at the end of the hall, and he unlocked the door, throwing the keys onto the couch and grabbing Brianna. She squeaked as he hoisted her up, her legs wrapping around his waist. She laughed as he carried her into the hall leading down to his bedroom, pushing her up against the wall and latching onto her mouth. He ground his hips into the cradle of her legs, his cock already hard as she moaned and sighed against his lips. His fingers fumbled with the crotch of her underwear, pushing them aside and then sliding his fingers inside her roughly. She gasped and threw her head back against the wall, his fingers coated with her arousal as he pulled out of her and carried her into his bedroom.

And on his bed, sat the girl he had been looking for.

"Seriously, Seb?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at him. "I'm gone for an hour and you have to go find some whore to wet your cock?" Sebastian dropped Brianna, who's knees buckled as she fell to the ground and she tried to steady herself on the ridiculous heels she was wearing.

"Hey!" She snapped at the degrading turn.

"Oh, fuck off," Clary sneered, pulling her cigarette out of her mouth and letting out a stream of smoke. Brianna looked from Clary to Sebastian, who was now smirking and only had eyes for the red head.

"Asshole," Brianna snapped as she teetered out of the room. Clary looked back at Sebastian, tilting her head to the side and holding out her cigarette. Sebastian took it, taking a long drag before stubbing it out on the ash tray next to his bed. Clary didn't look at all perturbed by the fact he had been ready to fuck another girl, but that was what he liked about her. He unbuttoned his shirt, throwing it the ground and sitting down on the bed next to her.

"Where'd you go?" He asked her as he trailed a finger up her smooth, inner thigh.

"Out," she replied with a shrug. "But I'm back. You gonna fuck me or you want to talk? Coz I wasn't aware that we had the kind of relationship that required conversation."

"Straight to the point, as always," Sebastian grinned and pulled her closer to him. She pulled off her dress and then wriggled out of her underwear, the only lingerie she was wearing. He easily lifted her off the bed and put her on his lap, her thighs on either side of him. She rubbed herself up and down and then tilted her head to the side, looking down at him from where she had raised herself up on her thighs, her red hair tumbling down her back and around her shoulders. He shifted it aside so that he could see her pink nipples, already pebbled, stretching out for him to touch.

"You hard for that whore?" Clary asked as she rubbed her hand over the front of his jeans, her fingers teasing that zipper.

"She was hot," he shrugged.

"Oh really?" Clary muttered. "You want me to call her back in here, then?" She clearly didn't plan to beacuse she was already pulling down his zipper.

"Sure," he smirked at her. "Call her back, and then this is a party."

"You're a jerk, you know that?" Clary shook her head as she finally freed his cock from the confines of his jeans and briefs and reached behind him for the bedside table where he kept his condoms. She rolled it on expertly and then sunk onto him, her heat surrounding him. Sebastian groaned at the sudden sensation, but she was already moving, using her thighs to lift her up and then sinking back down. Her eyes closed and she tilted back her head, sighs falling from her rosebud mouth as she rode him. Sebastian's hands went to her breasts, massaging them roughly and then pulling at her nipples hard. Rushes of electricity went to her centre each time he pulled, the pain he was creating translating to pleasure. "Fuck," she groaned, tipping her head forward and kissing him, their tongues dueling and their teeth biting. He caught her lower lip between his teeth and tugged on it, breaking the skin, the metallic taste of blood flooding her mouth.

"Faster, Clare," Sebastian grunted as he began to thrust up into her. "Come on, doll."

"Don't...Call me..._Doll_," Clary spat out snidely between thrusts, her hands bracing themselves on his shoulders as she quickened her pace. He couldn't help but grin as he could feel her start to tremble from the start of her orgasm and he dropped one hand to where they were connected, flicking over her clit.

"Come for me," Sebastian murmured as he felt his own orgasm impending. Her movements became jerky as she reached the edge of her cliff, falling over and letting out a high pitched moan. He took her over, ramming up into her harder, joining her in euphoria.

* * *

"Aunty Rissa!" Came a scream and little, brown haired whirlwind sped down the hallway and tackled Clary as she came in the front door. She laughed as she braced herself against Max Lightwood's embrace, shutting the door behind her and then reaching down to pick him up, putting him on her hip. "You're late," he stated, squinting at her.

I am not," Clary replied. "_You're_ just awake early. And where are your glasses, my man?"

"They're in the lounge," Max told her as they walked down the hallway to the kitchen, where Isabelle Lightwood was standing behind the island in the middle of the kitchen, cutting up an apple into quarters. "Ma! Rissa's back!"

"So I see," Isabelle smiled as Clary put down Max on one of the barstools and then sat down on the one next to him. She reached across the bench top and snagged one of the quarters.

"Hey! That's my apple, Aunty Rissa!" Max protested as Isabelle put the remaining apple into a plastic bowl and pushed it over to her son.

"What, and you don't share now?" Clary asked through a mouthful of apple.

"Ew!" Max laughed as he shoved a quarter into his mouth. Isabelle started on another apple and then came around to sit the other side of the island to sit down, pausing next to Clary and leaning down to whisper in her ear.

"You smell like sex."

"Don't sound so jealous," Clary smirked.

"I know who you were doing—I'm not jealous," Isabelle rolled her eyes.

"Sure, sure, Iz," she smirked.

"What are you guys talking about?" Max asked, tilting his head to one side and looking up at his mother and her best friend.

"Boys," Clary shot back. "And kissing."

"Yuck," Max spat out, going back to his apple. "Uncle Alec is coming over today." Isabelle moved to sit down on the other side of Clary and they exchanged looks over his head. "I hope he brings presents, he told me that he would bring me an action figure of Michael-Angelo."

"Because you don't have enough toys," Isabelle teased lightly.

"Ma," Max shot a withering look at the dark haired woman. "No one can have too many toys."

"So Uncle Alec, aye?" Clary pursed her lips at Isabelle who just shrugged. "Think he's bringing any news from the almighty Robert and Maryse?"

"I don't know," Isbelle answered. "But do you think you could smell a little less like trailer trash when he gets here?"

"But that's my natural aroma. It's all part of my charm," Clary tilted her head to the side and plastered a sugary smile on her face.

"I like how you smell, Aunty Rissa," Max piped up.

"And that's why you're my favorite," Clary grinned and got off her bar stool, reaching over to kiss Max on the forehead. Clary walked up the stairs of their house to the second floor. She stopped in her bedroom to put her phone on the charger, and strip out of her clothes, crossing to the opposite door where the bathroom was. She shut the door, turned on the shower and then looked into the mirror. The make up from last night was almost all rubbed off, her eyeliner and eyeshadow smudged around her eyes and making her look a little bit like a zombie. She brushed her teeth quickly and then hopped into the shower. "Ow, shit," she growled as she stepped on one of Max's green bath toys. She kicked it to the corner of the shower and fumbled around behind her for her body wash.

"When is Uncle Alec getting here?" Max asked, spinning around on his bar stool as Isabelle walked over to the sink with his bowl and the knife that she had used to cut the apple.

"Soon—stop spinning on that, you're going to fall off one day and break something," Isabelle warned him.

"But not today," Max smiled cheekily as he stopped and then slid of his barstool.

"Go find your glasses and then go brush your teeth after Clary has finished her shower," Isabelle said as she washed the dishes.

"Rissa, not Clary," Max muttered. He tottered off into the lounge. There was a knock at the front door and Isabelle could hear her sons footsteps pick up as they ran toward the door. "Who's there?" He called from the other side of the front door and Isabelle grinned as she dried her hands on a tee-towel and walked toward the front door. She looked through the peep hole and then unlocked the door. "Uncle Alec!" Max cried, latching himself onto Alec's legs.

"Hey, Max," Alec Lightwood grinned and picked Max up, holding him over his head. Max grinned and then started wriggling, wanting to be put down, looking down at his uncles empty hands in disappointment. "What's wrong?" He asked with a grin. "You looking for something?" Max shrugged, trying not to let his expression bely how he was feeling. "Maybe a TMNT action figure?" The little boys head snapped up, his eyes glowing.

"Jace," Isabelle stated, looking over her brothers shoulder as a golden haired boy started walking up the stairs to their two-storied walk up. Jace Wayland nodded at her with a tight smile, and then held out a plastic bag toward Max. "What do you say?" Isabelle nodded at Max who smiled charmingly up at Alec and Jace.

"Thank you," he cooed out before turning on his heel and running back into the house.

"What are you doing here?" Isabelle asked, raising her eyebrow at Jace.

"Easy," Alec said warningly. "He just wanted to come and see how you were doing."

"I'm doing just peachy," Isabelle muttered, still blocking the doorway into her home. "You run out of girls on the Upper East side to screw, you thought that you would come and slum it down here?" Jace tilted his head to the side, looking completely unaffected by Isabelle's words. He stared at her for a long time before finally a small smile crossed her mouth and she shook her head.

"That's what I thought," Jace smirked. "Good to see you too, Iz."

"Yeah, yeah," Isabelle rolled her eyes. "Come on in." She stepped aside and the two men came into the house. She couldn't help but think how out of place they both looked. Not that her, Clary and Max's home wasn't nice, but it wasn't expensive. Her tastes had changed dramatically when Max had been born, but from her upbringing's experience, she knew that the shorts and shirts the boys were wearing were well over two hundred each, not to the mention the watch on her brothers wrist which she knew for a face was over a thousand. Not that either of them really noticed that.

"Hey, where's your toliet?" Jace asked as the door closed behind them.

"Upstairs, on the left," Isabelle replied. Jace nodded and walked up the stairs as the siblings walked toward the lounge where Max was now playing. He had only been to Isabelle's place twice, and both times were over two years ago. The bathroom was hot, the mirror steamed up, as though someone had just had a shower. He quickly took a piss and washed his hands, before coming out and running head first into a red head, wearing only a pair of panties.

"Oh, shit," Jace closed his eyes automatically and turned his head to the side.

"Fucking hell," the red head cursed, turning on her heel and going into the bedroom she had just come out of but not bothering to close the door.

"Sorry about that!" Jace called, still not opening his eyes, not sure if she was decent yet.

"You look like you're blushing," the girls voice sounded like she was bored, not at all surprised or embarassed like any other girl would be in this situation. "What? You never seen a pair of tits before?" His eyes flew open at that and he noted that she was almost dressed now, wearing a shirt and pulling on a mini skirt.

"Plenty, actually," he retorted. Her eyes widened and she gave him a smile that was clearly not genuine.

"Well good for you," she stated as she came out of the bedroom and then headed downstairs. Jace blinked after her, completely confused at the interaction. He followed after her a minute or so later, following the sound of voices and Max's laughing. Alec was sitting on an arm chair, while Isabelle and the red head were on the ground beside where Max was playing with his new toy. Alec looked up as he walked in and grinned.

"Oh, Clary, this is Jace, a family friend," Alec stated, nodding over to where Jace was standing. The red head looked up from where she had been instructed to hold two plastic figurines that Max had dug out of his toy box.

"Hey," she muttered, her eyes going back to Max. The Lightwood siblings didn't act like the behaviour was anything strange, and didn't show any sign of knowing about their run in upstairs, so Jace sat down on the couch next to the arm chair Alec was on and tried to relax.

Conversation was light for a while, until Max announced that he wanted to watch TV and the four adults made their way into the adjoining kitchen. Isabelle flicked on the coffee maker while Clary opened the doors to the tiny veranda and pulled a pack of cigarettes out of her back pocket, propping one between her lips and lighting it up. Jace couldn't help but let his eyes follow her as she leaned forward with one arm bracing her against the metal railing, her ass sticking out slightly due to her position.

"Why are you here, Alec?" Isabelle asked quietly, her eyes flicking over to her son, who was completely obsorbed with his TV show.

"I wanted to see how you were doing, Iz," Alec replied, his voice low to match hers.

"And?" She pressed. Jace looked between the two, wondering if Clary had the right idea in leaving them alone. But then she came back into the lounge, walking around so that she was on the same side of the island as Isabelle, and stared defiantly at Alec. He sighed and rested his hands on the edge of the kitchen island, his fingers splayed out as he took in a deep breath.

"Mum and dad want to see you," Alec began. Isabelle's eyes narrowed instantly and he rushed on before she could say anything. "I know, I know, that's the last thing that you want to do. But they've started coming around; they want to get to know Max."

"Why?" Isabelle snapped. "Because now that he's old enough to be dressed up and put in front of the cameras they want to claim some kind of ownership over him? He's my son and he's not going through the same shit that we went through."

"I get that, I do—"

"No, you don't," Isabelle growled. "You're still in that life, it was never the way it was for you the way it was for me."

"Yeah, I know—"

"Is that the only reason you're here today?" Isabelle interuppted.

"Iz, I haven't seen you in ages. I just wanted to see my sister and nephew," he told her, trying to keep his voice even. Jace looked down a his friends and saw how white his knuckles were, and knew that he was trying to contain his temper.

"And now you've seen us," she snapped.

"Iz..." Clary said softly.

"Oh, come on, Clary," Isabelle huffed. "It would be ten seconds before they're telling me how to live my life again. And moving out of the place I'm sharing with my hooker room-mate would be in the top three demands." Jace's eyes flickered in recognition as he looked over at Clary, realizing that this was the 'dancer' friend that Alec had told him about. From Alec's description, it sounded as though he actually really liked and respected the girl, although that wasn't obvious from anything that was happening at the moment.

"Isabelle, maybe if you just listened to what they wanted instead of jumping to conclusions as usual then—"

"Then...What?" Isabelle squinted at him. "Fucking hell, Alec, I'm not getting sucked—"

"Mama?" Max's voice was soft. All four turned around to look down at the five year old who was staring up at them with wide, brown eyes. Clary took count of the situation and then plastered a smile on her face, coming around to where Max was standing and kneeling down to his level.

"How about we go up to Aunty Rissa's room and watch TV?" She suggested. "Let mama and Uncle Alec talk."

"What about him?" Max nodded over to Jace. Clary looked over her shoulder, studying him quickly before looking back at him and smiling again.

"He's going to come with us," she stated. Jace raised an eyebrow, but he had to admit that he was grateful for the out. He had known Isabelle and Alec practically since he was born, and their fights could get legendary. He slid off his barstool and followed the other two up the stairs. They went through the door opposite the bathroom and Jace blinked as he took in the room.

It was an absolute mess.

He had grown up with maid service and people tidying up after him every step of the way, but he couldn't imagine actually being able to go to sleep at night with a room that looked like this. One plus side was that it didn't look dirty; there were no plates or cups with remains of food, it was just a tip. There were piles of clothes, none which were folded, on almost every surface; the desk, the chair, the floor, the bedside table. His eyes rested on a lacy thong that was hooked over a lamp and he raised his eyes to Clary, who was watching him.

"No judging looks or you'll be back down with the Terrible Twosome," Clary warned him as she climbed on her double bed, which was un-surprisingly, not made. Max climbed up next to her, nestling between her legs as he took control of the remote and found the same channel that he had been watching downstairs. Jace sat down awkwardly on the edge of the bed, trying to figure out exactly _where _all his game had gone. He had known this girl all of twenty minutes, and he already felt more on edge that he had with anyone else. They were quiet for a while, finishing the show that was on and then starting on the next one. Max let out a sneeze, covering his mouth with his hands and then pulling them away.

"I need to blow my nose," he said, tipping his head back to look up at Clary. She turned to Jace and nodded at her bedside table.

"Can you get the box of tissues in the drawer?" She asked. Jace nodded, reaching for the top one and her eyes widened. "_Second_ drawer!" She quickly tried to direct him, but he had already opened the top drawer and a grin shot across his face. An assortment of condoms, a plastic tube of flavored lube and a vibrator.

"You're not allowed in that drawer," Max said seriously, shaking his head. "That's Aunty Rissa's special drawer."

"Right," Jace drawled, looking over at Clary. She rolled her eyes and pointed at the second drawer.

"Tissues," she repeated. He got the box out and handed one over to Max. The little boy blew his nose and then settled back down. Clary put her arms loosely around his waist, the two of them clearly comfortable with each other. The peace only last another ten minutes, before Isabelle and Alec appeared at the door, neither of them looking particularly happy. They tried to plaster optimistic expressions on their faces for Max's sake but Jace and Clary saw through them easily.

"Uncle Alec is going now, Max," Isabelle announced. "Come say goodbye." Max clambered off the bed to give his uncle a hug and Jace got, looking down at Clary. She wasn't even looking at him, her eyes trained on Isabelle.

"It was nice meeting you," Jace said, his high society manners coming out. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.

"I'm sure," she replied, effectively shutting him down as she got up to join Isabelle and Max in the door. "Alec."

"Clary," he nodded back at her, before turning on his heel and stalking away, Jace close on his heels.

* * *

"Thank you, Si!" Isabelle called as the two girls walked down the front steps of their house.

"It's no problem, Izzy, you know that," he smiled after them, looking down at Max who was tugging on his hand, trying to get his attention. Simon Lewis disappeared back into the house and Isabelle looked over at Clary, who was grinning at her.

"What?" She snapped as she shoved her hands into her pockets.

"You know what," Clary replied, nudging Isabelle with her hip as she pulled out a cigarette and stuck it in her mouth.

"I don't have a clue where your delusional brain has taken your train of though," Isabelle muttered as they walked down the street, Clary lighting her cigarette with slight difficulty as they picked up their pace.

"He has a thing for you, Iz. It's so obvious!"

"Whatever," Isabelle kept her eyes trained ahead. Clary shrugged, puffing on her cigarette. They walked in silence for a few minutes, stopping at the curb to wait for traffic before crossing to the other side and continuing.

"You going to tell me what that was all about this afternoon?" Clary asked eventually.

"Not yet," Isabelle sighed. "We'll talk after work, yeah?"

"Yeah," Clary replied, knowing when to leave a subject alone. Their work was only a fifteen minute walk, although if either girl ever had a night shift, it definitely felt like longer. They went to the side door, letting themselves in, and being engulfed immediately in the hustle bustle of the changing rooms. "I'll see you later, Iz!" Clary called as Isabelle continued straight through the room. The red head dropped her bag into one of the avaliable seats and looked at her reflection in the mirror.

Her face was completely void of makeup.

A clean slate.

Exactly how she needed to start every shift.

"Seb was looking for you the other night," Maia piped up, appearing behind her, wearing only a pink thong.

"Yeah, he clearly doesn't look very hard," Clary smirked as she started with her foundation. "He was with some bitch when he got back to his apartment."

"Can't blame a girl for trying. He is _fine_," Maia grinned and Clary shook her head.

"I doubt she tried very hard," she rolled her eyes as she finished with the apartment and lifted her powder brush. "That man must have been through half the city by now." She finished her base makeup and tied her hair up in a knot on top of her head.

"That's kind of disgusting, to be honest," Maia quirked an eyebrow and Clary laughed as she stood up, pulling off her shirt and reached behind her back to undo her bra strap. Maia didn't flinch as Clary's breasts were suddenly exposed, leaning against the make up table and watching as the girl started going through the clothing rack behind her.

"Disgusting, maybe. That's why he wears a condom," she shrugged. "But he's good, and that's all that matters, right?"

"You never want anything else?" Maia asked.

"I'm twenty two," Clary said, turning back around, pushing her skirt and g-string down as she found the outfit she was wearing that night. "All I need at the moment is good cock and my cigarettes and I'm good." She wiggled into the latex dress that left absolutely nothing to the imagination and then fumbled around in her personal drawer for underwear. "Besides, you've been single pretty much the whole time I've known you."

"Yeah, but I date guys!" Maia protested. "I _want_ to find someone!"

"Eh," Clary shrugged. "Guys are assholes." She was back in front of her mirror, painting her eyes and lips. The girls were quiet as Clary got herself ready, finishing her face and then letting down her hair, clipping it back behind her ears and flicking at the ends. "Wish me luck," she pursed her lips playfully.

"Make 'em hard, baby girl," Maia joked, slapping her on the ass as she pushed open the curtain and walked onto the stage.

_Sooooo, if you want me to continue...Review. Because I'm super unsure about this..._


	2. Chapter 2

_Thank you guys heaps for your reviews, I love all you beautiful individuals and your lovely words :) There's just something that I wanted to put out there. I love making new friends on here and then in turn on Facebook, I love talking to you guys, _but_ if you add me, just let me know who you are, coz if someone adds me and we have no mutual friends, I tend to decline and block as an automatic reaction. Haha. Thank yoooooou._

_So guys, tell me your favorite, sexy Clace stories! I've probably read it, but suggest them anyway, because I need some good reading!_

"Where are you?" Alec growled.

"Uh..." there was a loud tooting and then a distant yelling as Alec waited for a reply. "Just turned off Princess, now on Hartis."

"Shit, so you haven't even dropped it off yet? You know your fucking psycho fiance will cut my cock off if you're late."

"But it's such a pretty cock," Magnus Bane piped up from the four poster bed, pouting at his boyfriend. Alec rolled his eyes and turned so that he was facing the wall, but he couldn't stop the smile that quirked his lips upward.

"Jace, you've got an hour."

"Yeah, yeah." His friend on the other end didn't sound at all concerned as he ended the call. Alec let out a frustrated growl and dropped his phone to the pile of clothes on the floor and turned back to his naked boyfriend. Magnus stretched out his toned body lazily before sitting up and arching a perfectly plucked eyebrow at him.

"Alexander. You're not his mother, or his fiance—you're his friend. Let him deal with all this himself—he's old enough," Magnus shrugged.

"You know it's not that easy for me," Alec muttered, rubbing a hand over his face. Magnus shuffled closer to him and pressed a kiss to his bare shoulder. The two sat in silence before Magnus pulled his mouth away from his boyfriends skin.

"You didn't tell me how it went with Isabelle last weekend," he stated quietly.

"It went fine," Alec sighed, getting off the bed and walking over to the mahogany set of drawers at the foot of the bed and pulled out a pair of grey Calvin Kleins. Magnus stayed on the bed, giving him his space, allowing him some time to elaborate on his answer. Instead, he busied himself in front of his floor length mirror, rubbing mousse onto his hands and then styling his hair. Magnus got off the mattress and leaned against the one of the end posts of the bed, his eye meeting his partners blue orbs in their reflection from the mirror. "It was the usual. Awkward and tense and then she practically threw me out after half an hour. I thought that taking Jace might help to ease the atmosphere, but as soon as I mentioned Robert and Maryse, she froze me out."

"Can you blame her, though?" Magnus asked, his voice soft, knowing that it was a touchy subject with his boyfriend.

"Whatever," Alec growled as he stalked into his walk in closet. There was silence as he dressed and when he emerged, Magnus had to take a moment just to appreciate how good looking he was. Alec was wearing a steel grey suit that was tailored to fit him like a glove. He had a crisp, white shirt underneath and had a dark blue tie on, one that matched his eyes. Magnus reached out to fix Alec's tie, a small smile crossing his face.

"And what about Clarissa? How's our stubborn red-head doing?"

"You've never even met her," Alec grunted. "You're not supposed to talk about her like a long lost friend."

"She's good for Isabelle and Max, and she gets under your skin. When we meet, we're going to be practically family," Magnus grinned. Alec rolled his eyes but nodded.

"Yeah, you probably would," he said. "She was fine. She looked uninterested in the world, as per usual. But protective and defensive as soon as Iz and Max started to get upset."

"Which is good," Magnus pushed. "Which is what she needs. Someone looking out for her. That's why you like her."

"That's why I like her," Alec confirmed. Magnus licked his lips as he stepped back from his boyfriend and ran his hands down his arms, dusting off imaginary lint. Alec wasn't as observant as Magnus, but he knew that there was a further question that he was curious about. Alec took in a deep breath, a pained look settling on his face as he picked up his Rolex from the drawers and focusing his attention on the watch. Magnus turned and started to dress and Alec let out another sigh, his eyes closing momentarily. "I'm sorry, Magnus," he said quietly.

"I've been dealing with it for years," Magnus gritted out as he dressed. "And it's not like telling your sister is all of a sudden going to change things. It's not like your parents are going to accept this or that the press isn't going to chase this and destroy it."

"I know, but I promised you I would tell her," Alec reached out and wrapped his hand around Magnus's wrist, forcing him to stop buttoning up his shirt. Magnus lifted his gold flecked eyes to meet Alec's blue ones, and Alec almost flinched at the pain that was clear. "I'm sorry."

"I know, Alexander," Magnus said evenly. He pulled away from Alec to finish getting dressed. Alec opened his mouth to say something, but there weren't any words. Then there was a loud ringing from the lounge and Magnus glanced toward the door pointedly. "You better get that. It's probably your ride." Alec sighed and his lips parted for a second time but Magnus just shook his head. "I'll see you." Alec watched him go, biting down on his lower lip in annoyance before going into the lounge and picking up the phone.

"What?" He snapped.

"Your town car is here," a voice told him, unperturbed by his abrupt tone.

"Thanks." Alec slammed the phone down. He crossed the apartment and pressed the button for his private elevator, waiting for it to come back up from dropping Magnus off. When it arrived, he stepped inside, taking in a couple of breaths to try and calm himself down and settle his expression. When he reached the ground floor, he crossed the the expensively suited out lobby and the front door was opened by a doorman, who nodded at him. The chauffeur opened the limousine door for him, giving him a polite smile.

"Hey, baby," Staci Anderson greeted him with a wide grin as he slid into the back seat next to her.

"Hi, Stace," Alec replied, leaning in to give her a kiss.

* * *

"Jace! Jace Wayland! Over here!"

"Kaelie, give us a smile!"

"When is the wedding?"

"Give her a kiss, Wayland!"

The paparazzi were shouting from all directions, and Kaelie Whitewillow was sucking it up, as usual. Jace played the role of doting fiance well, his arm wrapped around Kaelie's waist, holding her in tight to his side, pressing a kiss to her forehead, smiling widely at the camera. But as soon as they walked through the darkened doorway and into the privacy of the hall, the smile dropped from Jace's face and he shoved his hands into the pockets of his tailored Armani suit. Kaelie looked up at him but didn't say anything, her expression bored as she stalked out in front of him, her ass swaying from side to side in the tiny silver dress she was wearing. They were about to enter the ballroom when Jace jumped forward and grabbed her hand, pulling her into him.

"Oh!" She gasped as her chest collided with his. "What?" She asked, looking slightly annoyed.

"You want to take a detour before going in?" Jace asked, a cheeky smile on his face and a familiar glint in his eye. "We could check out the upstairs balcony together." Kaelie rolled her eyes and tugged her hand away from him.

"We're already late, Jace," she snapped. "Where were you, anyway?"

"I already said I'm sorry," he told her. "And if we're already late, what's another twenty minutes." He reached out for her again, but she just shook her head and snatched her hand back again. His smile disappeared again and he took in a long suffering breath, pursing his lips together. Kaelie reached the door that led into the main ballroom of the event and she stopped, her heels coming to a halt on the marble floors as she waited for Jace to catch up. He put his hand on the small of her back and fixed a smile on his face again before they walked into the ballroom.

"Finally!" Celine Wayland appeared at his side, smiling widely at him. The smile that he returned was genuine, for the first time that evening. "I was beginning to worry that you weren't coming."

"It looked that way for a while," Kaelie said, the snide undertone evident in her voice despite the sugary smile plastered on her face. Celine raised an eyebrow at the younger girl, the coolness radiating off her, and Kaelie released Jace's arm. "I'm going to go find some champagne," she muttered, walking away. Celine watched her go, disapproval clear on her face before she turned back to her son.

"That girl," Celine began and Jace took in a deep breath. "All I want is for you to be happy, Jace," she said, reaching out to touch her sons hand.

"Happy?" Jace smirked. "You've met my father, right?"

"Unfortunately," Celine muttered, rolling her eyes in a very unladylike manner. "Well, I hope that whatever the reason for you being with her, it pays off in the end."

"I'll be fine, mum," Jace leaned down to kiss his mother on the cheek lightly. "You know how this shit is."

Jace found Alec and his date, Kaelie reappearing and gluing herself to his side. The night went just like every other night at these things. Lots of fake smiling, lots of posing for photos, lots of speeches made that were written by PA's and delivered by smarmy business men who clearly didn't mean a word they said. Jace was glad that he was sat at a table with Alec, rather than with any of his family. Since his parents divorce a year ago, it all came down to him choosing between the two of them. In an act of defiance, and mainly just because he hated his father, he took his mothers maiden name. But that didn't stop the fact that he was a Stephen Herondale's heir, and he would be following in his footsteps up until the point that he took over the hotel business when his father stepped down. Alec was good at pretending, but Jace hated sitting opposite his friend and seeing the trapped look in his eyes as Staci giggled and rubbed her hand up and down his thigh under the table. It was after midnight before the two men were able to slip away, disappearing upstairs and opening up a double door that led out onto one of the balcony's, that looked out over the perfectly manicured backyard.

"You good?" Jace asked, his voice gruff as he lit up a cigarette and propped it into his mouth.

"Fine," Alec replied, his voice just as abrupt as he accepted the lighter from his friend and lit his own cigarette. The two went quiet as they smoked. Alec let out an angry growl and kicked at one of the pot plants on the balcony, the ceramic shattering loudly. Jace didn't say anything, knowing that there was more to come. "That chick in there is driving me fucking insane. And Kaelie? She's no better."

"No, she's not," Jace smirked as he let out a long stream of smoke from the corner of his mouth. "The only difference is that I put up with her because I _like_ it when she sucks my cock." Alec winced and let out a short, sharp breath. Jace's expression faltered and he glanced sideways at his oldest friend. "How many times have you slept with her?"

"More times than I want to think about," Alec gritted out.

"Does Magnus know?" Jace asked.

"I think so," Alec shrugged. "He doesn't ask, I don't bring it up." Jace nodded, dropping his cigarette on the ground and stubbing it out with his thousand dollar, Italian leather shoes.

"How long do you think Magnus is going to wait, Alec?" He questioned. Alec's eyebrows furrowed, his eyes trained on the backyard, clearly trying to distract himself. "Alec, come on. It's been over two years. It's going to cause a huge media frenzy for a week, and then there's going to be some sex tape or nude photos leaked, probably from my darling fiance, and their attention will shift."

"And what about my parents? I'm pretty sure they're not going to forget their only son is gay and just move on after a week," Alec bit out.

"No, but if they love you, they'll accept you, or all that bullshit."

"Love me?" Alec snorted. "You've met our fathers, right? I don't think they know the meaning of the word."

"Well," Jace gave a one shouldered shrug and pursed his lips. "That _is_ true."

* * *

For some time, Jace had wondered if there was some finishing school that rich girls and socialites went to so that they could become their versions of perfect life partners. Because the girls that he had been surrounded by his whole life, especially from his teens upward, were all the same, and his fiance was no exception. A little slutty, without a very big attention span, and with dollar signs glowing in their eyes.

He looked across at Kaelie, who was fast asleep in the king sized bed next to him. The sheets were pushed down around her waist, her perfect, Double D implants on full display. He turned his attention to the clock on the wall opposite the bed, and saw that it was just after four. It had been nearly two hours since they had arrived back at his apartment. Kaelie was pretty tipsy, and had been pawing at his clothes, pulling them off, and had then jumped him when they reached the bedroom, her pussy tight like a vice around his cock as she rode him. Sex was always good, not great, but good, with Kaelie, but then afterwards, as they had laid on his bed, conversation was stilted and he felt his attention wandering and knew that hers definitely was. She had asked why he was running late to the charity dinner, he had deflected; telling the blonde about his extra circular activities was the last thing he wanted to do. She had fallen asleep not too long after, but he hadn't.

A loud vibrate slid through the room and Jace reached out quickly to grab his phone off the bedside table, glancing over to Kaelie to make sure it didn't wake her up. She rolled over and made a little huffing noise under her breath, settling back down. Jace looked back at his phone and pressed down the 'answer' button.

"Hey."

"Bro!" Came the response. "You up to be my follow car?" Jace couldn't help the rush of excitement and adrenaline that pumped through his body at the question, already feeling ten times more alert than he had felt a couple of seconds ago.

"When?"

"Now. There was some big, rich guy event on in town, and a bunch of them got drunk of their thousand dollar champagne and shit and left their cars in the event parking. There's going to be some beautiful babies in there."

"How many boys are going?" Jace asked.

"Four of us," the man replied. "You in?"

"I'll meet you across the street from the parking lot in twenty minutes."

"Knew I could count on you, Wayland."

Jace was out of bed and pulling on a pair of designer jeans before the call had even ended. Kaelie was still out of it, and she would still probably be for the next six or seven hours—thank god for the ten or eleven pink, girly drinks she had ordered at the event. He pulled on a black hoodie and then walked out of the bedroom, toward the private elevator. He left the penthouse, the elevator whizzing down silently until it was at the second basement level. He had three cars, a silver Porsche, a red Ferrari and a black, nondescript Honda Civic. Kaelie had no idea of his third car, she would probably be shocked into next week if she knew he owned a car that retailed for under six figures.

But it was for times like these that he needed a car like this.

A car that had three different licence plates in the back, a gun—loaded with blanks but still menacing—in the glove box and a tool set under the front seat.

Jace turned on the engine, reversing out of parking spot and speeding out of the parking lot. There was a back way of the hotel, one that only several people knew about that avoided security cameras; one of the perks of being the son of the owner of the hotel. New York was one of the only cities that seemed to be awake for a full twenty-four hours, even if traffic slowed at this time of the morning, there was still life. There were taxi's on the street and people walking on the sidewalk. Most of them looked drunk, although there were several who were fully dressed in suits with briefcases, probably bankers pulling late night shifts or starting early ones. Jace reached the block where the charity ball had been held and saw a group of men, dressed similarly to him, standing on the corner of the block, looking more than a little suspicious. He grinned as he pulled up next to them, winding down the window.

"You boys don't look like you're going to commit a felony or anything, standing here looking all dodgy and shit," Jace smirked at them. One of the shorter boys, one that Jace only knew as 'Dog' pulled the fingers at him and then the man who was on the phone with Jace stepped forward, giving him a welcoming smile.

"Thanks for coming, man," Jordan Kyle said, leaning on the side of the car. "You ready for this?"

"I'll park up here, wait for four cars to leave and then follow," Jace confirmed.

"That's my man," Jordan reached out a fist, and Jace bumped his own against the taller boys before the four all turned and scampered down the street. Jace pulled out a cigarette, lighting it up as he sat down low in the drivers seat, his eyes trained on the parking structure. His whole body was on high alert, and he tapped his foot erratically on the floor of the car, smoking his way quickly through the cigarette. He had just started on a second one when three cars flew from the parking structure. Jace threw his cigarette to the ground and hit the button on the door with his elbow to lift the window, turning the key in the ignition. The thirty seconds between the first three cars and the fourth stretched out, and Jace's fingers started tapping away on the steering wheel before finally, a matte grey Mercedes was speeding down the street. Jace followed, going a much slower pace, knowing the exact path that the boys would be taking to the chop shop on the other side of town.

Once they were two blocks over, they all slowed to just a little above the speed limit, in an effort not to draw attention to themselves. Jace was almost a block behind them, and he turned his radio up loud, his fingers jerking in time to the music, his body buzzing. A light ahead turned red and he grimaced, slowing down, watching as the boys in front of him disappeared. Up ahead, two cars broke off, going down separate streets, blending in with the traffic rather than four expensive vehicles all grouped together.

When the light turned green, Jace continued forward, following the first two cars through the city. They were a couple of blocks in front of him now, and getting further away, but he hadn't seen any police cars and he had a feeling that this was just going to be a boring night.

Then his phone rang.

He snatched it up, putting it to his ear.

"Sirens. I'm on Kings Street."

"I'm coming," Jace bit out, snapping phone shut and jerking the wheel to the side, ducking down a side street. He could hear the sirens and he couldn't help but grin and lean forward slightly as he spotted the red and blue lights just up ahead. It was Jordan, in a white SVU, and the cop was just getting out of his patrol vehicle as Jace drove past. He caught his accomplices eye and nodded as he turned into a alley way up ahead. It was an alley he knew well—he knew all the back ways of the city, all the ins and outs. He wound down his window, reaching for his glove box and pulling out the gun. He fired off two shots, into the ground of the alley.

He didn't wait for the response, knowing the cop would be running for his vehicle now, over-looking any traffic violation that he had pulled Jordan over, not having the time yet to run the plates and realize that the vehicle was stolen.

Jace slammed his foot down on the accelerator, the wheels of his car spinning furiously on the messy ground before he was speeding down the alley. As he reached the end, he caught a glimpse of the police car turning down the alley after him and he smirked. He ignored the indignant toots that came from the traffic he cut off, grinning as his body swung into the door as he turned sharply down a side street.

This was what he liked.

This was why he did this.

The other boys; they did it for the money. This was how they paid their way. This was their livelihood.

But not for Jace.

This was his adrenaline rush.

This was the only thing that got his heart pumping.

The sirens of the police car was getting further away, and he could no longer see the lights flashing and reflecting off the buildings. But that didn't matter, his blood was rushing through his veins and all of his nerves were electrified. He sped past another police car that was pulled over to one side of the road, and their lights lit up, accelerating after him, but already he was turning down an alley that led him to a parking lot. His tyres squealed on the concrete, echoing through the closed in parking structure before he flew out the other side and almost immediately, he could see the change in scenery. He was making his way out of the center city, away from the life he was used, and moving toward the darker, seedier side of the city. A place where it was a lot easier to get lost.

The cops had both given up, and Jace decided to find somewhere to pull over and change his plates, in case they decided to put him out over the radio. He wasn't entirely certain where he was, although some of the streets he went down looked vaguely familiar, although that could just be because he had been there on the way to Valentines chop shop. After ten or so minutes, he saw a grungy looking place that still had lights on. It was a strip club, the kind of place that looked like STD's crawled on the couches and bar stools, which was just the kind of shady place he could park his ass for half an hour or so before heading back into the city.

Jace parked his car around the back of the strip joint, next to a beat up looking Volvo. There were several cars in the lot, which was a little surprising for a place like this at five in the morning. He got out of the car, glancing around to check that there was no one around, before getting another set of plates out of the boot of his car and quickly changed them over. Then he headed inside.

It smelt like cheap perfume and sweat. Jace crinkled up his nose as he paid the door fee and then bee-lined toward the bar. He ordered a beer, along with a shot of whiskey. The girl behind the counter, wearing a silver thong, a pair of bunny ears and nothing else, winked at him as she took his money and slid his drinks across the counter. He threw back the burning, amber liquid, and then took his bottle of beer with him as he walked down the couple of steps leading toward the couches that were placed around the stage.

There were two girls dancing; two girls who had tight bodies and pretty good dance moves for a place like this. They were sultry, moving in time to the music, and Jace couldn't help his physical reaction as his eyes danced over the girl standing further back on the stage. Her skin was pale, and she was wearing a tiny red skirt that did nothing to cover her pert ass. She circled her hand around the pole that was secured to the floor and ceiling, rolling her hips, grinding herself against it, flicking her hair over her shoulder and running her hand through her hair. When she spun around, her red hair bounced around her heart shaped face, her tongue running seductively over her upper lip; his eyebrow raised in surprise.

Izzy's room mate.

_Now two things that have made me feel all happy this week...The first thing would be the fact that after almost three years of begging, my hubby finally let me get a kitten! I'm a cat person, he's a dog person, it's been a point of contention for a while. Haha. But then when we got to the SPCA, he fell in love with another one, so we ended up taking two home! So the new editions to our family are Han and Leia—yeah, yeah, we're _Star Wars_ nerds. _

_The second thing is GallaVich. _OhmyGOD_, GallaVich. So if one of you guys out there aren't watching _Shameless_ then I'm completely disappointed in you. I support both GallaVich teams, and I do hope that Lip and Mandy get back together. But Ian and Mickey. Ian and Mickey just _kill_ me every time. They are such an incredible, unconventional couple and they just get me in the feels every single time. _


	3. Chapter 3

_Are you guys enjoying this? There was only a couple of reviews for the last chapter...Anyway, if you guys are interested, let me know :) I apologize for any mistakes made._

It was almost five-thirty, which was knock off time. Clary had to force herself not to look over at the clock that hung above the bar on the left side of the club. It wasn't the first time she had cursed inwardly at the fact she worked at a twenty-four hour club, but it had it's upsides. It meant that she could work the graveyard and only get leered at by the guys who get off shift around three, and they were usually too tired to try and grope her when she was waitressing. And once work was done, she would go home and sleep for a few hours, and then she had her whole day in front of her. Unfortunately, it also meant that tips weren't great, but she was still expected to bring her A game.

She walked off stage, not bothering to pick up her bikini top as she walked down the hallway to the back room. The only other girl in the room with her was Aline Penhallow, who was getting ready to take over from her shift. Maia was still on stage, she still had an hour left before she could knock off.

"Is there anyone out there?" Aline asked as she looked over at Clary, her eyes unabashedly skimming over the redheads body.

"There's a couple guys, but then there's going to the six o'clock shift change at the factory soon, and you'll have a bunch of new admirers," Clary grinned as she pulled out her bra and a shirt from her canvas bag. She started dressing as Aline finished her makeup. "Hey, do you know if Sebastian's at his place?" Aline made a face as she got up, readjusting the tiny, pleather skirt that barely covered her ass.

"You're seriously after a fuck after being in this place for eight hours? Shit, I'm not even close to being horny when I leave this place, and I like seeing chicks tits bouncing up and down in front of my face."

"Nah, I want weed," Clary replied as she pulled on a pair of jeans, now fully dressed in street wear. Aline opened the door leading back into the hallway, holding it open for Clary as the girl walked out.

"Yeah, I think he's home," Aline replied. She licked her lips and made a face. "But I'm pretty sure he's got some chick there."

"Good thing I don't care where he puts his cock," Clary answered with a shrug. She was about to go out the back door, the opposite way from Aline, when one of the bouncers called out her name. She looked over her shoulder and frowned when she recognized the man standing behind the bouncer.

"He says that he's a friend of yours," the bouncer said. Clary narrowed her eyes as she stared at the man behind him. The bouncer was waiting for a reply, giving Jace an untrusting look.

"Not exactly a friend," Clary muttered but then shot a tight smile at the bouncer. "He's fine, thanks." The bouncer nodded, shooting one last look at Jace before going back into the main room of the club. Clary quirked an eyebrow at Jace, crossing her arms at him. "This doesn't really strike me as your kind of hang out. You stalking me now?" Jace snorted and shook his head.

"I didn't realize that you worked here—"

"So you came here at five in the morning looking for Izzy?" She cut him off.

"Wait, what?" Jace looked genuinely confused. "I thought Izzy was a bartender. So, she works here?"

"She is a bartender," Clary confirmed. "She's tries not to do the early morning shifts so that she can be there when Max gets up to go to school." Jace nodded and ran his hand through his hair. "You still haven't told me why you're here."

"It's a long story," Jace shrugged. "But I assure you, it had nothing to do with stalking you or Izzy." Clary considered him for a moment before finally nodding.

"Okay, so what do you want?" She asked.

"Oh, well, uh," Jace looked a little taken aback by her question. "I saw you and thought I'd say 'hi'."

"Okay," Clary shifted her stance, widening the space between her feet. "Hi."

"Hi," Jace replied, smiling.

"Have a good day," she went to turn around and Jace faltered before quickly catching up with her, walking alongside the red-head.

"Do you have a ride home?" He asked.

"I've got my feet," Clary replied, not looking particularly happy with his intrusion as she reached the back door and pushed it open.

"It's gotta be at least a twenty minute walk to your place from here! It's still dark outside—and it's not exactly the nicest neighborhood around. Let me give you a ride," Jace offered as they walked out into the car park.

"I'm fine, thanks," Clary blew him off, still walking steadily toward the footpath running beside the road. Jace grasped her wrist and pulled on it gently so that she was forced to stop walking.

"Come on, it's just a ride," he attempted to give her a charming smile but she didn't look like she was buying it.

"I'm not going straight home," she warned him. "I need to make a stop on the way."

"That's fine, that's fine," he told her. Clary narrowed her eyes at him and Jace wondered for the second time since meeting this girl, why his usual charm just didn't work. Finally, she nodded and he grinned. "Just over here." He pointed at his Civic and they made their way over. Jace unlocked the car and they got inside. Clary looked around and then raised an eyebrow at him.

"I always took you for a Mercedes or Ferrari kind of guy," she commented. Jace just shrugged in response as he started the the car; he didn't think that she was the type of girl who would be impressed if he said that this was only one of his three cars. Or that this was his car that helped to camouflage when he was helping to steal other people's cars. "Do you know where Rickard Avenue is?"

"I don't really know my way around this part of town," Jace admitted as he pulled onto the main road. He frowned as he looked up and down the street, which was surrounded in inky darkness, broken only by streetlights that were few and far between. "Were you seriously going to walk home?" Clary shrugged.

"We always walk," she replied. "I have protection. Plus I know lots of people who live around here."

"Yeah, but there's always going to be the chance of something going wrong," Jace shook his head. "Alec would go crazy if he knew his sister was walking around this kind of neighborhood when it was dark." Clary didn't reply, but she pointed to an upcoming street.

"Down here," she said. Jace flicked on his indicator and turned down the street. When they were halfway down she pointed at a house. He pulled over to the side of the road and she picked up her bag from the ground by her feet. "Wait here," she told him. Jace nodded and turned off the engine, watching her going into the house. She knocked twice on the door before turning the handle and going into the house. She was only inside for a few minutes, and when she came back out, there was a shirtless guy behind her. The man watched her walking back to the car, his eyes glued to her swaying hips and then lifting to squint at the driver when Clary opened the door.

"Who's that?" Jace asked as he turned the car back on and swung it around, heading back to the main road.

"None of your business," Clary replied, settling back in her seat. Jace rolled his eyes but didn't push any further. It was only a few more minutes until he was pulling up outside the girls small home. Clary looked over at him, taking in Jace's white knuckles and his slightly bloodshot eyes. "Did you want to come in and crash on the couch for a bit? You look as though you could use some sleep." Jace thought for a moment before turning the key in the ignition.

"You sure Izzy would be okay with that?" He asked as they got out of the car. Clary shrugged.

"The alternative is that you fall asleep driving on the way back to your big, fancy penthouse and crash. I don't think she'd be too happy about that," she said as she searched around for her keys in her bag. She found them and unlocked the door, leading them inside. The house was completely silent and even darker than outside. Jace tried to follow every step that Clary took but tripped over something and nearly went sprawling face first on the ground. "Shit," she looked over her shoulder at him. "Scratch what I said before. If you wake Max up this early, Izzy would have preferred you fall asleep driving."

"Sorry," Jace muttered as they reached the lounge. Clary went to a cupboard near the TV and pulled out a couple of blankets, handing them to him. She didn't bother saying goodbye to him as she headed back out of the room and up the stairs, toward her own room.

* * *

When Jace opened his eyes, there was a small, sticky hand resting on the cushion he was laying on and a pair of big eyes blinking at him from behind circular glasses. For a long moment, the two stared at each other until Max let out a high pitched giggle and took off running. Jace sat up, sleepily swiping at his eyes as he looked around the room, slightly confused as he took in his surroundings.

"He's not dead, Ma," Max announced happily as he padded into the kitchen. Jace looked over the back of the couch to where Max was climbing up on a bar stool next to Isabelle, who was slicing up an orange.

"How unfortunate," Isabelle commented wryly, glancing up from the chopping board. Jace ran a hand over his face as he slowly woke up. He got off the couch, arching his and stretching his arms, working out the kinks from sleeping on the small couch. "You running away from your trophy woman?" Isabelle asked, coming into the lounge and standing in front of him.

"Um, yeah," Jace rubbed the back of his neck as he yawned. "Something like that."

"And so you came all the way out here because our strip clubs are so much classier than any of the gentlemans clubs that you can find in town," she asked, her tone terse.

"What's a trophy woman?" Max asked through a mouthful of orange, twisting around in his seat so that he could join in the conversation.

"You know Lucy who lives across the street?" Came a voice from somewhere out of eye shot. Max spun around so that he was looking out onto the balcony, and a moment later, Clary came in. He nodded earnestly at her and she smirked. "That's what she's going to be when she grows up." Max made a face and picked up another orange slice.

"I don't like Lucy," he said, not talking to anyone in particular as he played with the fruit. "She got made at me when I got paint on her dress and she only wants to play with make up." The little boy looked absolutely disgusting and Jace couldn't help but laugh and the boy fixed him with a solemn expression. "She's mean," he stated. Clary nodded her agreement.

"She's a little bitch, that one," she added, her tone utterly serious. Isabelle shot a glare over in their direction.

"Language," she snapped at her friend and Max giggled.

"Aunty Rissa says bad words a lot," Max confided in Jace over his shoulder. Jace grinned and rubbed his hand over the back of his neck, looking over to where Isabelle was. She was frowning at the two at the bar, but it wasn't harsh. She turned to go back into the lounge and started picking up toys that were on the ground, packing them away into a box in the corner of the room. Then she started folding the blankets that Jace had used.

"Oh, nah, I got that," he quickly said, walking over to where she was. Isabelle raised an eyebrow at him as he took the thick blanket away from her and held the edges awkwardly.

"Do you even know how to fold a blanket?" She asked him. Jace opened his mouth to reply and then looked down at the blanket. Clary and Max were watching him steadily and he made a face before handing the it back to Isabelle. "That's what I thought," she smirked at him. "I didn't fold a blanket until I was seventeen or eighteen." Clary snorted and spun around on her bar stool.

"Oh to be rich and privileged," she sung out, sliding off the bar stool and picking up the empty chopping board that was in front of Max. "You done, my man?" She asked, ruffling his hair before walking over to the sink and running the tap over the stained wooden board.

"Yup," Max said. "I'm gonna go brush my teeth." He got down from the stool and disappeared from the room. Clary still had her back to Isabelle and Jace, and he looked over at his friend, the girl he had known since he was in diapers. Isabelle had always been so put together, not a hair out of place, wearing the most expensive and most fashionable clothes, saying and doing the right thing. Until she was sixteen, and pregnant, several years before the television show made it 'cool'. And now here she was, her hair a mess and in a rough pony-tail, jeans that were thin and worn at the knees and a stain on the hem of her shirt. But she looked something that she never had in the whole time he had known her.

Free.

Relaxed.

Happy.

He wasn't quite sure what word it was that perfectly described what he saw in Isabelle's face as Max ran back into the room, the strap of an Avengers backpack hooked in two of his fingers. She scooped him up, spinning him around and pressing a sloppy kiss to his cheek. Max giggled and pushed her away, put then leaned in and kissed her back. Jace felt his stomach ache slightly, and he dropped his eyes to the folded blankets on the couch, feeling like he was intruding on a private moment.

"Yo, Golden Boy," Clary called from the kitchen, and Jace looked over at her. "You know how to dry dishes."

"I think I can figure it out," he replied wryly. She smirked at him and nodded to a tee-towel on the bench. Jace joined her in the kitchen and picked up the tee-towel, and then looking at the rack which was half filled with dishes. He could hear Isabelle talking to Max behind them, but he wasn't sure what she was saying. He finished drying a couple of plates before there was a patter of feet behind him and then a tug on his jacket. "Hey, buddy," he turned around a grinned at Max.

"Are you going to be here when I get home from school?" He asked.

"Uh," Jace looked up at Isabelle.

"He might be," Isabelle said diplomatically as she held out her hand. Max made a face and then walked over to Clary. She reached down to kiss him on the cheek and then rubbed her nose against his. Max giggled and then turned around to run after his mother. Isabelle took his hand and they disappeared out the door. Jace glanced across at Clary, who looked back at him before turning back to the sink. She continued washing the dishes and Jace continued drying. When she finished, she wiped down the area around the sink and then the rest of the bench. Jace hooked the tee-towel over the hook on the side of the oven and then folded his arms over his chest before leaning against the bench and watching as Clary finished cleaning up the kitchen.

"So," Clary began, licking her lower lip and turning to face him as she threw her cloth into the sink.

"So," Jace responded, giving her an awkward smile.

"Is it true?" Clary asked, tilting her head to the side.

"What?"

"That you're here to escape your trophy wife?"

"Fiancée," Jace corrected her. "Not wife."

"Fiancée," Clary agreed. "So are you here to escape your trophy fiancée?"

"Eh," Jace shrugged. Clary quirked an eyebrow as she pulled a cigarette out of the pack and made her way over to the balcony doors. Jace pursed his lips as he saw her light the cigarette up and walked over to join her. The balcony was so small it could barely hold the small, circular table with two chairs and then both Jace and Clary. "I just needed some space, I guess."

"And you get that space at five in the morning?" Clary asked disbelievingly, letting out a stream of smoke from the corner of her mouth. "I mean, I'm not in a relationship, and I haven't been in a proper relationship before, but from what I know about them is that if you get space at five in the morning, that's generally not a good thing." Jace laughed slightly and looked down at his feet, stubbing at the concrete flooring of the balcony with his socked foot. When he looked back up, he was surprised to see that she was smiling slightly. He liked her smile, even if it was just a little lift at the corners of her red lips. "So you needed space at five in the morning and you went to a strip club?"

"Well," Jace tilted his head to the side. "I technically didn't come straight to the strip club. I didn't intend to go to a strip club."

"Oh really?" Clary smirked. "You just sort of ended up there?"

"Uh," Jace winced. "I was kind of running from the cops." Her eyes widened in surprise and she pulled the cigarette out of her mouth.

"What?" She exclaimed. "What in the hell were you doing running from the cops?!" Jace looked at for a long time, wondering whether or not he should tell her. The only person who really knew who he was and knew what he got up to in his spare time was Alec, his best friend, the person he had known pretty much since he was born. But she was still staring at him, smoke curling upward from the cigarette in her hand, an expression of disbelief and something else...Maybe appreciation? Although that wouldn't really make sense. But she didn't look angry or disgusted at the thought of him being involved in something illegal, so he decided to run with that.

"I have pretty much everything in my life figured out, right?" He began, shifting from foot to foot. "I mean, I'm meant to take over my father's business, and I'm meant to marry this perfect girl from this rich family and I'm supposed to go to all of these big events and smile and wave and give these scripted answers—"

"Sounds terrible," Clary said bluntly, her demeanor quickly looking uninterested and Jace's eyebrows knitted together as he quickly rushed on.

"I steal cars," he blurted out. Clary pressed her lips together as she stared at him, her eyes searching his face, looking for any signs of deception. Finally, she curled her upper lip and shrugged.

"I wasn't expecting that," she admitted.

"What were you expecting?" He asked. She snorted and shrugged again.

"Poor little rich boy with a drug problem," she said.

"So you think I'm just another statistic." That annoyed him, and it showed on his face. Clary didn't really seem to care though, putting her cigarette back in her mouth and sitting down on the edge of the metal table, swinging her legs.

"You haven't done anything to show me otherwise," she told him. Jace opened his mouth to reply but then she continued. "You show up here, acting like you have every right to be here, even though I know for a fact that you've only seen Izzy once or twice since Max was born, and neither time was from you visiting her. From what I understand she was one of your best friends and you just dropped her the instant she no longer fit into your structured little world." They weren't in the joking stage anymore, and both of them had their shoulders tensed, eyes narrow. "At a time where she needed you, you fucked off, and now you come back here because your plastic Barbie of a fiancee is so boring, you need to find something else to liven up your life—"

"That's enough!" Jace shouted and she blinked up at him, taken aback by his tone. "You know about two percent of my life, you can't just assume that you know everything. And you don't know Kaelie, so don't say shit like that about—"

"Kaelie?!" Clary grunted disdainfully. "That name is not helping her reputation at all!"

"Says the hooker who spins around poles naked for a living!" Jace snapped back at her, and then clicked his mouth shut as he realized he had taken it to far. Clary's lips were almost white with anger, pinched together as she dropped the cigarette down on the ground and stamped on it with her heel. When she spoke, her voice was steely and her words were punctuated.

"Get. The fuck. Out. Of. My house." Jace blinked, his temper suddenly dispersing and comprehended exactly what it was he had just spat out at her.

"Shit, Clary, I—"

"Get out," her voice was louder now. Jace took in a deep breath and opened his mouth but her furious look told him to keep quiet. He turned on his heel, and stalked out silently.

_It's my birthday tomorrow, so that's even more of a reason to let me know what you think!_


	4. Chapter 4

_Aw, thank you guys so much for the reviews! It's because of you this update was so much quicker than the past few. I was a bit worried given the chapter before last didn't receive many reviews, but I'm glad you're enjoying it! I'm actually in love with this story, so I really hope you stick it out with me! We got some Magnus and Alec action going on in the chapter because I love them both so much :)_

"You know you should move, right?" Clary rolled over onto her stomach and stared across at the bespectacled man sitting in the arm chair next to her. Simon shrugged and shifted in his seat. "You can afford to get a place in the city. You must be the only person I know who _chooses_ to live here."

"It's home," Simon shrugged again.

"Bullshit," Clary smirked. "It's coz of Izzy."

"It's coz of you," Simon shot back, but there was a slight pink tinge in his cheeks that belied what he was saying.

"Yeah," she rolled her eyes. "Me."

"You're my sister."

"I was your _foster_ sister for, like, six months."

"_Eight_," Simon corrected her, his face suddenly becoming serious. "Don't play it off like it doesn't matter, Clary." She pursed her lips and rolled back onto her back, staring up at the darkly painted ceiling. Simon looked annoyed at her lack of response but didn't push it, used to her uninterested manner. "So, no work today?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Clary replied.

"I have lots of work that I _could_ be doing," Simon looked over at the files piled up on his desk in the corner of the room. "But you showed up and bitched and moaned until I paid you some attention!" Clary laughed and tilted her head back so that he could see her face and she poked out her tongue, making a face at him. "Isabelle not at home to keep you entertained?"

"Nope," Clary sat up and swung her legs over the side of the couch, never able to keep still for long. "She took Max to school this morning and didn't come back. I think she was avoiding Jace."

"Jace?" Simon instantly looked more alert at the mention of another male.

"Down boy," Clary rolled her eyes again, a very common expression for her. "Jace is a friend of Alec's, her brothers. I think they were friends when she was younger."

"Oh yeah," Simon glanced at her sideways. "Just friends."

"You're pathetic," Clary shot back by way of an answer.

"I could kick you out," he threatened.

"I'd like to see you try," she grinned. Simon stared at her steadily and Clary met his gaze. As usual, he was the first to drop her gaze and she laughed. "You could just ask her out, you reaize? She'd say 'yes'."

"How do you know?"

"Uh, maybe because I _live_ with the girl. I _know_ she likes you," Clary said in a 'duh' tone. Simon actually looked like he believed her for a split second, a hopeful look on his face, but then he shook his head.

"She probably goes out with guys way more interesting than me."

"You heard the part about me living with her, right?" Clary muttered. "I would know if she was seeing anyone. And she's got Max; if she's not working, she's with him."

"Well, it's not like you're the best person to go to about love advice," Simon quirked an eyebrow. "How are things going with Sebastian?" He didn't even try to cover up his disgust when he said the mans name. Clary didn't appear bothered by it, standing up and walking over to the shelf next to the TV that held his DVD's.

"I'm sure he's fine," she replied idly. "Although I don't know what that's got nothing to do with love. That's purely lust and drugs."

"He's an asshole, Clary," Simon's voice was icy.

"Yeah, I know. So it's a good thing that it's got nothing to do with love then, right? It's all about his cock," Clary threw over her shoulder. Simon sighed and ran his hand through his shaggy hair, watching as she ran her finger over the spines of his DVD's. "Hey, can I borrow this?" She asked, pulling out season one of _Friends_.

"Sure. Because they're not replayed on TV enough," Simon laughed.

"I swear you see the same ten episodes replay on TV," Clary said as she pulled it out of the case. "And I've got the next couple of days off. I'm gonna lay in bed, with my bong and cigarette's within arms length, and watch nothing but trash on TV."

"Sounds like you're setting a perfect example for Max," Simon rolled his eyes.

"Max thinks I'm perfect, thank you very much," Clary stuck out her tongue. She turned around and pushed her hair behind her ear. "I'm off. See ya later, bro." She kissed him on the cheek and exited the lounge, heading toward the front door.

* * *

"Clary!" Isabelle called from downstairs. "Clary, are you home?!" She shut the front door and dumped her groceries on the ground. "Bitch, get your ass downstairs and help me with the food!" There was utter silence for a few seconds before there was a thump and her red headed friend appeared at the top of the stairs. "I've gotta go pick up Max from school in an hour, so let's try make this quick."

"Always so gracious when asking favors," Clary teased her.

"This is your food too. You want to eat, you help put it away," Isabelle rolled her eyes and grabbed the first two bags and walked into the kitchen. Clary picked up the remaining two bags and followed her through.

"Did you carry all three of these back from the store?" Clary groaned as she lifted the bags onto the counter. "Shit, they're heavy."

"Nah, I called a cab," Isabelle replied as she began to unpack. The girls had been living together long enough that they knew each others movements, and they quickly got the bags emptied and the food packed away. Isabelle was crushing the plastic bags and putting them in the bin while Clary was lighting up a cigarette when the dark haired girl decided to bring up the man who had been in their apartment. "So, you ran into Jace last night, aye? And then just...Invited him back?"

"I didn't actually run into him until this morning, just as my shift finished, and he insisted on giving me a ride home," Clary answered as she put her cigarette into her mouth. "He's kind of a douche."

"Yeah, I know," Isabelle muttered as she joined Clary on the balcony. "But he's a good guy." Clary snorted.

"You sure about that?"

"Yeah, I am," Isabelle's voice was firm and Clary raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Jace was always there for me. I mean, when he found out I was pregnant, he reacted the same way as my brother—freaked out and wanted me to get an abortion. But then when I said that I wanted to keep the baby, he helped me rehearse and how to tell Robert and Maryse. When they kicked me out, he offered to let me stay at one of the empty rooms in his dad's hotel but by then I had decided to cut everyone off." She licked her lower lip and tilted her head forward, and Clary nudged her in the shoulder encouragingly. "I've told you a hundred times that my only real friend in that world was my brother, but I always considered Jace to be a brother, and he was as real a friend as Alec." She glanced to the side and gave Clary a small smile. "Actually, he kinda reminds me of you."

"Because we both ooze wealth and sophistication?" Clary smirked as she let out a stream of smoke.

"Because you're both sarcastic jack-asses who are really big softies underneath," Isabelle shot back. Clary rolled her eyes, but the smirk dropped from her face. She decided not to bring up the comment Jace had made before he left. Then again, if she brought that up, Isabelle would no doubt counter by asking what she had said to provoke him, and her reply would just prove her friend right. "So what have you been up to today? What time did Jace leave?"

"Pretty much straight after you left," Clary shrugged before sending a sly grin across to her dark haired friend. "And then I spent the rest of it at your boyfriends."

"You mean _Simons_," Isabelle corrected.

"Your soon to be _ lovers_," the red head teased back.

"That's never going to happen, Clary," Isabelle sighed.

"Why?"

"Because of what I do."

"Oh, come _on_."

"I'm a busty bar maid."

"You're an attractive waitress."

"I work in a strip club."

"An exotic dancing establishment."

"I live with a stripper," Isabelle rolled her eyes with a grin and Clary laughed.

"But I am a _damn good_ one!" She concluded. Isabelle joined in with her laughing and shook her head. Clary stubbed out her cigarette in the glass ash tray and crossed her arms over her chest. "Stop chickening out when it comes to guys—when it comes to Simon! How long has it been since you've been on a date? Since you've been laid?" Isabelle made a face and leaned against the metal railing.

"You're not going to let this go, are you?"

"I've been going at it for two years," Clary shrugged. "I figure I'm wearing you down."

"I better go get Max," Isabelle said.

"Tactful change of subject, not an outright 'no' anymore," Clary smirked.

"Oh, piss off," Isabelle rolled her eyes as she headed back into the house. Clary watched as she picked up her keys and her wallet, and then turned back to face her friend. "Are you staying around tonight? You've got the next few days off, right?"

"I've got Max tonight, it's fine," Clary smiled. "And I'll start on dinner."

"No date with Sebastian?"

"You mean no booty call?"

"I was being polite," Isabelle muttered.

"And no, I'm not meeting up with Seb. I'll probably go by and see him tomorrow."

"You feeling horny?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Clary poked her tongue out and Isabelle huffed under her breath, drawing a laugh from the red head. "I'll start dinner now. Go get our boy."

* * *

"Come on, baby," Magnus grunted, his fingers tightening on Alec's waist. His boyfriend twitched in response, digging his nails into Magnus' shoulders as he moved up and down on the gorgeous mans lap. His cock filled Alec and he groaned as Magnus fisted his cock harder. Alec's could feel his balls tightening and knew that he wasn't going to be able to last much longer and from the way Magnus was breathing, harsh and shallow, he knew that he was close as well. "Fuck, Alec, I'm gonna—"

"Shit, Magnus," Alec groaned, dropping his head to his boyfriends shoulder and biting at the curve of his neck. Semen pumped out of his cock and spilled over Magnus' hand and stomach, and Magnus emptied himself into the condom buried in Alec's ass. They stilled for a long few minutes, both of them leaning their heads against each others shoulders and breathing in deeply. Eventually Alec stood, albeit a little unsteadily, and walked out of the room, into the bathroom. A second later, the shower started and Magnus sighed, rubbing a hand over his forehead before he got up himself. He tied off the condom and threw it into the waste disposal. He considered joining Alec in the shower before deciding against it and going into his lounge. He padded into the kitchen and got a cold bottle of water out of the fridge, drinking most of it before screwing the lid back on and putting it on the bench.

Magnus had a nice apartment. It was eighteen storeys up in the middle of the city, with tinted windows, so he could stand in his lounge and admire the view in the complete nude. He could also have his in the closet boyfriend slammed up against the glass and drive into him without any fear of anyone seeing them. He didn't get the apartment through family money, like Alec; he had had to work hard to get everything he wanted in life. He had worked two jobs, cleaning a school early in the morning and stacking shelves at an all hours supermarket while putting himself through University doing a business degree. And now he was TIC at the most successful burlesque club in New York. That was where he had met Alec. He had come in with Jace and a bunch of their other 'blue-blood' friends, and it had been extremely clear to a man who had been sexually aware since he was fourteen to see when someone was completely uninterested in the beautiful, half-naked woman on stage.

Unfortunately, it was now three years later, and he was still the secret boyfriend.

And the whole stolen kisses thing was getting a little old.

Especially when he had to look at pictures from trashy tabloids and read stories contemplating which socialite was going to win the heart of his hunky man.

Magnus was the friendly, relaxed one between them, and Alec was the uptight, edgy one. Magnus tried to act as though the whole charade that they had to keep up didn't bother him anywhere near as much as it did, while still gently pushing him in the direction of coming out. He didn't even care if Alec came out but didn't say that he was specifically with Magnus, he just wanted him to be honest with his family and his friends. There was movement behind him and he took in a deep breath, trying to get rid of the frustration that was building in his shoulders.

"Hey, Magnus," Alec caught his attention from the doorway and he turned around. Icy blue eyes scanned over the toned, honey golden skin of his Indonesian lover, drinking in every inch of his body appreciatively before meeting his gaze. "I better be off. I'm meeting with Jace. Apparently something happened the other day after the charity dinner."

"He finally dump that ditzy bitch?" Magnus screwed up his nose.

"I'm pretty sure if that had happened, it would be plastered all over the Internet and she would be selling her story to the highest bidder on day time television," Alec snorted in disgust.

"Maybe he got arrested for his night time activities," Magnus suggested.

"I doubt that," Alec replied as he buttoned up his light green shirt and tucked it into his black pants. "I'll let you know if it's anything exciting." His eyes drifted downward again and Magnus could see the flash of arousal in the blue eyes as they paused over his cock, which was quickly hardening at the attention.

"Any chance I could persuade you to stay for round three?" Magnus stepped toward Alec, his own, cat-like eyes beginning to darken with lust. Alec licked his lower lip and swallowed hard, and Magnus knew that he had him. "Come on, blue eyes," he murmured, snaking an arm up around Alec's neck and tugging him forward to meet his lips. "Just another half hour," his breath played across his boyfriends lips as he pulled his head back slightly as Alec tried to claim his lips. He laughed at the flash of frustration that shot across his boyfriends face, before darting forward and pressing his lips hard against his. The hand that wasn't around his neck worked skillfully at the buckle and zip of his pants, sliding underneath his boxers and wrapping around his cock, a groan spilling from Alec's perfect mouth as Magnus began to pump him.

Once they were done, Alec kissed his boyfriend hard on the mouth before exiting his apartment. As the elevator whizzed downward, Alec rubbed two fingers over his forehead and let out a whooshing sigh. Whenever he was with Magnus, everything was simple and made sense. He was happy; Magnus _made _him happy. But then as soon as he left, things just got complicated and it weighed heavily over him. He took the elevator right down to the basement, where his black Maserati was parked. The security here knew how often they were here, but they were discreet, which was helped by the way he tipped him. It was also the only reason that they allowed him to park in the basement, where technically only occupants of the buildings were meant to park.

Coming out as gay shouldn't be as big and scary as it once was. It was the twenty-first century and it seemed as though everyone was at least experimenting with their sexuality.

But in his parents society circles—_his_ society circles—it wasn't something readily acceptable. He knew of two gay men who ran with his parents, and both of them were one hundred percent in the closet. They were married to botox ridden, fake breasted woman with children, and their gay activities all happened behind closed doors. There was a scandal which threatened to break when a maid walked in on one of them, laid back on his desk with a male prostitute on his hands and knees between his legs, but she was undoubtedly paid off.

Alec had been careful over the years. He had first experimented when he had been away at soccer camp when he was fifteen. Then there had been two guys in his senior year. And after that it had always been Magnus. He had told Jace when he was seventeen and his friend had been trying to set him up with one of the girls at school. He just couldn't understand why Alec wasn't into it, and in a fit of annoyance he had blurted it out. Jace had been absolutely fine with it, which he really should had known. In fact, Jace agreed with Magnus, that he should come out, but _unlike_ Magnus, he also completely understood why he hadn't. He tightened his fingers around his steering wheel as he weaved between the traffic. Jace's penthouse was only about a ten minute walk from Magnus' but it took nearly double that while driving over, given the packed roads. He dropped his car off with the valet and made his way into the building. The doorman and security guard both nodded at him as he walked in; not bothering to ID him because he had been coming almost every day for the past six years, since Jace had moved into the apartment.

"Want a drink?" Jace greeted him as soon as he stepped into the apartment. Alec raised an eyebrow as he looked down at the tumbler in his friends hand.

"Sure," he said uncertainly. Jace flipped another tumbler over and poured some Scotch out of the crystal vase it was in. Alec accepted it and took a long drink before looking back over at Jace, who was walking over to sit back down on his couch and turn the TV down. "So what happened?"

"Where?" Jace muttered.

"You said something happened. That's why you wanted me to come over?" Alec reminded him as he joined him on the couch.

"Right," Jace sighed and licked his lower lip. He fell quiet again, eyes glued to the TV, watching Jessica Alba gyrate on stage in the first _Sin City_ movie. Alec tilted his head to the side and cleared his throat pointedly.

"So?" He prompted. Jace blinked and looked back over at him.

"Oh, right," Jace sat up straighter and swirled around the mouthful of Scotch left in the tumbler. "I saw your sister and nephew the other day."

"What?" Alec asked in surprise.

"I was the follow car, the night after the charity dinner," Jace began, tapping his finger against the side of his glass. "One of them clearly got the attention of the cops because then I came in and took the heat. I ended up on the other side of town and I parked up at this strip club. And it just so happened to be a very _specific_ strip club."

"Wait—so it just happened to be the strip club that my sister and Clary work at?" Alec raised his eyebrows in disbelief.

"I didn't see Isabelle there or anything!" Jace quickly said, wanting to put his friends mind at ease. "Shit, that would be like seeing my sister get all naked. That shit isn't right."

"You don't have a sister."

"Well, I can _imagine_ that it wouldn't be right," Jace rolled his eyes. "Anyway, can I continue? Is that okay with you?" Alec held up his hands in front of him, palms upward, indicating Jace go ahead. "So I see this gorgeous red head, right? Like tight in all the right places, and man, her ass—"

"Yeah, okoay," Alec interuppted him. "I get it. Get on with the story."

"Okay, so I go up and see her after and offer her a ride hom—did you know they walk home? By themselves? It was like pitch black, five in the morning and they're both attractive girls, which is prime...Bait, or whatever. There's drug dealers and shit out there!" Alec flinched slightly but didn't comment and Jace decided to continue with his original train of thought. "She was pretty stubborn but let me give her a ride. She wanted to stop at some guys place on the way home and then I took her back to their place. And then she invited me to stay." Alec's eyebrows shot up in surprise at that and Jace nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I know, right? She didn't look very happy about it but she told me to stay. Anyway, in the morning, after Isabelle and Max left, we were talking, and we kinda go into an argument."

"An argument?" Alec repeated incredulously.

"An argument," Jace confirmed. "Kind of."

"Shit," Alec snorted slightly. "She's scarier than my sister."

"It wasn't _that_ bad," Jace said quickly. Alec just stared at him steadily. "Just sort of...Insulted what she did for a living."

"For fucks sakes, Jace," Alec sighed and collapsed back into the couch. "I want to start going around there more often—not be completely banished from the place. And Clary's opinion will play a big part of that."

"Look it's fine. I'll apologize," Jace assured him.

"Right, as if I'm going to let you go back there unsupervised," Alec rolled his eyes.

"Feel free to come with me," Jace said. "Maybe you can make nice with Izzy." Alec sighed but nodded. Jace pursed his lips before leaning forward and tilting his glass in his friends direction. "And don't you have something you need to tell her?" Alec sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "C'mon, Alec. How do you know she doesn't already know? She's not stupd." Alec's eyes widened and Jace made a facce. "Have you not thought about that?"

"Not really," Alec replied.

"She is your sister. She lived with you for sixteen years," Jace reminded hers.

"Yeah, but we always had our own shit going on. Mum and dad were always on her back and then there was always shit to do, events to go to," Alec shrugged helplessly. "You know how shit it is."

"Well, you never know," Jace told him.

"So you wanna head out there tomorrow? I've gotta go to some board meeting with dad in the morning, but I'm free in the afternoon." Jace nodded his agreement. "I'll text her tonight, see if she's free."

"And Clary," Jace interjected.

"Right," Alec nodded slowly, raising an eyebrow at his friends enthusiasm. "And Clary."

_So with most of my stories I have a pretty clear outline for most chapters and where it's going. But I don't really have that with this, so that means if you guys have any ideas of what you want to see/happen, let me know! I might be able to work them in :)_

_Leave me a review, let me know what you think xx_


	5. Chapter 5

_Hey, guys! I'm back! It's been a while, I know, I apologize. Works been hectic, my dad and my best friend are still recovering and my migraines have been getting worse—thankfully I've finally got an appointment next week with a specialist, so hopefully can get that all sorted. I've also felt a little disheartened from coming on here because there's been a lot of negativity in some fandoms I'm in...Between authors and reviewers and it just kinda sucks, because I know some amazing authors who have taken down their stories and are now refusing to post anymore because of it. Really sucks :( We gotta be there and support each other, you beautiful people!_

_Anyway, on with the story!_

"So daddy wants us to go to brunch on Sunday with him and Lisa, and he would be very happy if Stephen would come," Kaelie was saying, swirling her white wine around in the delicate crystal glass she was holding. Jace blinked at her and didn't say anything—not like she needed anything from his side of the table. She spoke enough for the two of them combined. "And we're still going to that movie premiere, right? I don't want to miss that." _More like you don't want to miss a photo opportunity_, Jace thought to himself, his lips tightening. "Jace," Kaelie gave him a pointed look and he realized that he was expected to reply.

"What night is the premiere?" He asked.

"Friday night. But it's not like we need to stay for the movie," she shrugged. "And then there's some big party on the next night..." she pursed her lips and tilted her head to the side as she thought. "Yeah, that works. Premiere on Friday, and the party on Saturday." She looked over at him and Jace realized that he wasn't going to be able to get away with not saying anything."

"Who's party is it?" He asked, feigning interest.

"Um," Kaelie pursed her lips, glancing down at her phone, her thumbs dancing over the smooth surface before she answered. "Camille Belcourt. She owns that club, uh, _Hypnotica_?" That got Jace's attention and he actually looked up at her. "It's that burlesque club; there's going to be dancers there and last time there were these fire breathers—they're usually pretty fun."

"Yeah, we'll go to that," Jace nodded, and Kaelie's eyebrows raised in surprise. If she wanted him to go out with her, it would usually take a lot of persuading. He preferred to stay in with Alec and his friends, drinking and watching something on TV than get dressed up and go out.

"Have you been there before?" Kaelie asked, attempting to look nonchalant as she took another sip from her glass.

"To the club?" Jace raised an eyebrow as he looked across the table at her. "Come on now, Kaelie, don't try and act coy," he rolled his eyes over to her, one of his fair eyebrows arched. "I don't ask what you do when you spend three hours at your yoga class, five times a week. You don't ask me what I get up to when we're not together." Kaelie pressed her lips together in frustration and her cheeks reddened slightly, but she didn't say anything else. A pretty girl brunette girl came over to ask for their order. Jace smiled as he asked for the special of the day, while Kaelie somehow managed to look down her nose at the girl despite the fact that she was standing and the waitress was standing as she asked for a nicoise salad.

"I'll be back shortly," she told the pair of them, her eyes on Jace as she turned to walk away. Kaelie's eyes were thunderous but she kept her mouth shut. The waitress brought them over their food and they ate in silence, exactly the way Jace liked it. When they finished, Jace paid the bill—exactly the way Kaelie liked it—and they walked outside, giving their parking ticket to the valet. Jace's silver Porsche was brought around promptly and he held the door open for Kaelie to get inside. Her skirt slid up her smooth legs as she sat down and Jace let his gaze linger for a moment before he slammed the door shut and moved around to the drivers side. As soon as he got in and flicked the indicator on, Kaelie reached over and began to rub his crotch.

Jace raised an eyebrow and looked over at her, but she just gave him a seductive look from below half closed eyelids. She only instigated sex when she felt it was necessary—and clearly the reminder that Jace knew about her little run-ins with her yoga instructor made her think it was necessary. Jace honestly didn't care, she was private about it, so he wasn't made the laughing stock among their peers, and it wasn't as though he actually _loved _her. But he wasn't going to stop her.

The blonde unhooked the button of his jeans and undone his zipper, maneuvering herself around the center console so that she could reach over and suck on his cock. She moved her tongue up and down, hollowing out her cheeks as her hand squeezed his balls. They weren't far from his apartment, and when he drove into the underground and pulled into his parking lot, Kaelie slid on top of him, kissing him with her too thin lips and not so eager tongue. Jace was used to the way she kissed, started almost tentatively as if she wasn't too sure what she was doing, and then all of sudden biting and licking as though she was trying to invade her mouth. He tried his hardest to avoid kissing her when having sex, because it was too distracting from the warmth around his erection. He ran his hands up and down her back and then pulled away from her.

"Condoms in the glove box," he said. Kaelie reached behind him and grabbed one out, ripping it open with her teeth and sliding it over him before sinking down. Jace groaned, gritting his teeth as she began to ride him. He closed his eyes and leaned back against his head rest, letting Kaelie send him toward his orgasm.

* * *

"Max! Ma-ax!" Clary sung out, her head lolling off the side of the couch and looking over to where the boy was playing with his toys in front of the TV. Max look up at her, a long suffering expression on his face as she poked out her tongue at him playfully. "Can you get me a drink of water?" She asked sweetly, tilting her head to the side.

"You're closer," Max countered, making a face at her.

"But you've got such strong, young, energetic legs and I love you," Clary stuck out her lower lip in a pout and batted her eyelashes. Max grumbled under his breath but he got up and walked into the kitchen and brought back a glass of water.

"You're lazy, Aunty Rissa," Max noted as he handed it to her and then sat back down with his toys. Clary finished her mouthful of water and narrowed her eyes playfully at him.

"Am not!" She countered.

"Are too!" Max insisted, a grin curling at his perfect little mouth.

"Am not!" Clary shot back.

"I'm so glad I live with such mature people," Isabelle commented as she came into the room, her cellphone in one hand.

"He started it!" Clary smirked at Max, who just rolled his eyes an blinked up at his mother from behind his glasses.

"It was Rissa," he whispered loudly, clearly used to Clary's teasing. Isabelle laughed and walked over to where Clary was laying back on the couch.

"It's Aline," she said. "Seriously, do you ever have your phone charged?" Clary shrugged and held out her hand for the phone.

"Why do I need to when you always have yours?" She grinned. Isabelle passed it over and then walked over to when Max as, doubling over behind Max so that her long hair fell in front of her sons face and got in his eyes.

"Mu-um," Max groaned and tried to push away the silky dark strands from his face. Isabelle gave him a wet sounding kiss on the cheek and leaned in to rub her nose against his in an eskimo kiss. He grumbled under his breath, trying to reach out for his toys blindly and Isabelle straightened up to look over at Clary. She was making a face into the phone and reluctantly nodding. Isabelle raised an eyebrow at her as she sat up.

"You owe me, okay?" Clary was saying into the phone. "I'll see you next week." She scrunched up her nose and handed the phone back to Isabelle. "She's signed up to do some waitressing gig next weekend but she double booked it with some dinner she has with her mum."

"You're going to work a weekend?" Isabelle asked in surprise.

"It's damn good hourly rate, and Maia's doing it as well, so at least I won't be alone," Clary said. Isabelle still looked surprised as she sat down on the sofa next to her friend. Clary had been working at the strip club since she was twenty, so she had been there long enough to have the right to set hours, rather than the rotational shifts a lot of girls needed to put up with. And her days were Sunday night through to Thursday morning, giving her almost three days off. This week, however, one of the other girls had to cover a medical bill for her daughter and so Clary had given her her Thursday shift, so she had a bit more time off. "Hey, what did you want to about this evening?" She asked, her voice lowered so that Max couldn't hear. She didn't need to be worried though, because he was completely absorbed in his toys and the TV was loud enough to cover their voices. "Did you want me to take Max out?"

"No, I need you to stay," Isabelle quickly said and there was a panicked look in her eyes that made Clary nod her head quickly.

"Hey, hey. Don't worry. You know I wouldn't leave you alone with him if you didn't want me to," Clary reassured her, reaching out to squeeze her hand lightly. "Did you know why he's coming out?"

"Nope," Isabelle shook her head. "Do you think it has anything to do with Jace staying over? Did he say anything to you?" Clary considered telling her what exactly Jace _had _said, but decided that it probably wasn't best, so she settled for shaking her head. "Maybe Robert and Maryse put him up to it. Sending them back in to do their dirty work."

"Or he might just want to see you," Clary offered. "He's your brother, and Max is his nephew. You guys are still his family."

"See, you're never this nice to him when he's around. Maybe if you were, he'd like you more," Isabelle shot her a wry smile. Clary just smirked and shrugged.

"I don't care if he likes me," she replied. "Anyway, it would totally ruin my reputation if people went around thinking that I was nice." Isabelle rolled her eyes. "So what time are they coming? Because you've got work at nine, right?"

"Right," the dark haired girl muttered. "Don't remind me. If Max didn't need new Winter clothes I wouldn't be taking this stupid shift. This is going to be a good time, meeting with Alec and then going to work." She shot Clary a sympathetic look. "And I'm sorry you had to cancel your plans."

"Hey," Clary tugged at a strand of her friends hair. "It's okay. Besides, it was just Sebastian. I can go get laid tomorrow," she winked and Isabelle rolled her eyes again. "Do you want me to grab dinner before they come over? I can just go down the road, get us chips."

"Chips?" Max's ears perked up at that and he turned around to look at the two woman on the couch. "Are we having chips for dinner, mama?" He asked with an angelic smile on his face. Isabelle laughed and nodded.

"Okay. But you have to go upstairs and do some homework first. Mrs Thomas said that you were meant to have it finished yesterday, but she's given you the weekend to do it," Isabelle gave him a stern look and he sighed, picking up the two action figures he was playing with and carrying them out of the room with him. Clary and Isabelle watched him go before looking at each other.

"You realize he's just gonna go and play with them in his room?" Clary said with a grin.

"I'll give a couple of minutes before I go upstairs and catch him out," Isabelle replied with a smile of her own.

* * *

"You got a game plan?" Jace asked as they pulled up at the curb. Alec took in a deep breath and nodded.

"I'm gonna tell her," he said, his voice steely. Jace's lips parted in surprise.

"You're gonna tell her?" He asked. "Like, the whole, _that_. You're gonna tell her?"

"I'm gonna tell her," Alec repeated with a look of steely determination.

"Are you ready to do that?" Jace asked, his fair eyebrows raised. Alec pursed his lips as he thought about his friends question and finally just gave a one shouldered shrug.

"I'm not sure," he said. "But I promised Magnus that it was something that I would do and he's been...He's been so _fucking_ understanding with keeping things quiet," Alec's voice was tense and Jace wondered what it was that had triggered all of this. "You were right, that night of the charity dinner. I don't know how long he's going to keep putting up with me if I make him go through this for me—"

"Hey, Alec, I didn't mean—Magnus isn't going to leave you. I didn't mean for—"

"No," Alec shook his head sharply. "You were right. And he deserves better than this. He deserves someone that isn't ashamed of him. And telling Izzy is the first step, and I owe it to him to take that." Jace watched as the dark haired boy practically shook in the drivers seat. He licked his lower lip and rubbed them together before reaching over to grasp Alec's shoulder.

"It's going to be fine, okay?" Jace said. "Izzy would never judge you on this."

"Yeah," Alec muttered. "I hope so." Jace nodded and got out of the car. Alec got out and pressed down on the remote he had attached to his key ring and followed his golden haired friend up the steps to the house. Jace knocked twice on the door and stepped back to wait for one of the girls to answer the door. Alec was shifting nervously from foot to foot, his hands deep in the pockets of his leather jacket. A moment later, the fiery red head appeared in the doorway, her green eyes flickering between the two of them. She had a completely uninterested expression on her face as she stepped aside to let the two of them in. The house was warm, and there was mindless chatter coming from the TV as Jace and Alec walked into the lounge where Isabelle and Max were.

"Hi, Uncle Alec," Max smiled up at the dark haired man and then shifted his eyes to Jace. "Hi."

"Hey, Max," Alec said, smiling stiffly. "Hey, Iz."

"Alec," she nodded his head at him, her expression blank. "You here on an order from Maryse and Robert again?"

"Actually, can I talk to you?" He asked, hands still in his pockets, shoulders tense. Isabelle blinked, looking a little surprised at his blunt tone and glanced over at Clary. Jace looked at Clary as well, trying to gauge her mood, but she just shrugged and Isabelle stood up.

"We can go out the back," she said, leading her brother out of the room. That left Clary, Jace and Max in the lounge, and Clary had gone from looking detached, to narrow eyed and pissed. Max looked up at her and wisely moved back to his toys, grabbing it and tugging on her sleeve.

"I'm gonna go and finish my dinner," he said before walking to the adjoining kitchen. It was then that Jace smelt the tell-tale scent of deep fried batter and cheap oil and he lifted his eyebrows as he saw the spread of fish and chips on the breakfast bar. Max got up on one of the bar stools and was kneeling so that he could reach across and grab a chip, his TMNT action figure still tightly in his hand.

"You guys have dinner early," Jace said, not having _any_ clue how he was supposed to initiate a conversation with her.

"We live with a five year old," Clary said, her words clipped. "He's in bed by seven-thirty. We have to have dinner early."

"Right," Jace nodded, glancing around the room, pursing his lips together. "Look, I want to say sorry for the other—"

"Dude," Clary interrupted him. "I've heard worse."

"Yeah, but that doesn't matter," Jace replied, his voice earnest, and he took a step closer to her. "I said it, and I shouldn't have." Clary pursed her lips, tilting her chin upwards slightly, looking surprised at his apology. "And I'm not just saying that because I want things to be cool between us, because of Alec. I'm saying it because me and Izzy were once really good friends, and I miss her like hell." She continued to watch him steadily, her green eyes not blinking once. "And I like that you look out for her, and for Max." Her gaze was still locked on him. "And I want to be a part of her life, and his...And yours."

"Oh, mine too?" Clary asked, her eyebrow raised. "Lucky me."

"Yeah, yours," Jace wasn't sure how to take her comment. But then there was a small smile curving on her lips and she shook her head.

"What makes you think that you get to be in _my_ life?" She asked, her sassy tone coming through, loud and proud.

"Well, I was _hoping_," Jace grinned at her, leaning heavily on the charm of his smile to get through to the red head. She didn't reply for a long moment, before grinning and rolling her eyes.

"You think there's enough chips here for Jace?" She asked, turning around and walking toward the bar where Max was stuffing his face. He turned around to look at the two of them, Jace walking over to join them, and narrowed his eyes. Clary laughed, the serious expression on her face fading away instantly as the little boy lit up her eyes. "What's that look for, huh? You already ate over half of those chips yourself!"

"Yeah, and then you ate my crab stick _and_ my fish!" Max protested.

"So? It's not like you paid for it," Clary poked her tongue out at him as she reached over him and snagged a couple of chips, dunking them into the sauce and then putting them into her mouth. "Besides, it was only, like, half of your fish." She glanced over her shoulder at Jace, who was glancing between the pair of them. He blinked when Clary cleared her throat.

"Yeah?" He asked, looking over at her.

"You gonna have some of these chips, or what?" Max asked, his tone clearly one that he had adopted from Clary. Jace snorted out a laugh and joined them at the breakfast bar.

* * *

Isabelle lead Alec down the hallway, and opened the back door that lead out to a small backyard, barely big enough to turn around, with a patch of a grass and a clothesline. It was almost seven o'clock and the wind was turning cold, and Isabelle wrapped her arms around her and rubbed her hands up and down. Alec licked his lower lip and looked around, shoving his hands back into his pockets.

"What is it, Alec?" Isabelle asked, almost sighing out the words.

"I'm not here because of mum and dad," he began. "I'm here because I need to tell you something—something that I should have done a long time ago."

"Yeah?" Isabelle cocked her head to the side.

"Yeah," Alec took in a deep breath. He had only decided on the drive over here that he was actually going to tell his sister, and he hadn't had time to think through exactly what it was he was going to say. He didn't have a game plan. "I'm—I'm seeing someone." Isabelle didn't look particularly impressed by that, folding her arms over her chest. "And it's serious." She snorted.

"One of your society bunnies?" She asked, her eyes closing off. "I thought those girls that I saw your picture with in those gossip magazines was just for show. Didn't think you were serious about one of those bimbos."

"Uh yeah, actually it is," Alec clenched his fingers in his jacket pocket. "They're not really on the society scene at all—actually he runs a club, he's really good at it," the last part of the sentence sort of just fell out before Alec realized he had put a gender on his partner. Isabelle's eyebrows raised and she took a small step toward him.

"He?" She clarified. Alec hesitated, and then nodded jerkily. Her expression relaxed and she nodded in response. "How long have you been seeing him?" Alec looked surprised at her question and she rolled his eyes. "What? What'd you think my question would be?"

"Uh...I—I don't know," Alec stammered. "I hadn't really thought about what your response would be..."

"Alexander," Isabelle's voice was firm. "I've known you were gay since I was eleven years old and knew what the word meant. You were never interested in girls and I remember when I was waiting for you after soccer practice. I was fifteen and everyone had already come out, and I thought maybe you had snuck out the back to avoid me. So I came in looking for you, and I saw you with the Marcus guy."

"Shit," Alec breathed, his eyes widening. "You've known that long?"

"I've known that long," Isabelle nodded, a smile finally curling her lips. "But then everything happened with me, so it was never the right time to bring it up." Alec nodded. "So? You gonna tell me about him? Your boyfriend." Alec still looked surprised and his mouth opened and closed a couple of times, and his sister laughed. "Come on, Alec. Give a girl a little credit." And then she reached out and linked her arm through his, initiating physical contact for the first time since she had been kicked out of home.

_Now there's been heaps of things that have gone on the past few months I haven't posted and I was wondering what to put up here! So these things both relate to SDCC—by the way, if anyone knows where to get Bob Morley's hat, let me know ;)_

_First thing is, have you guys seen all the trailers that came out? Whoop whoop whoop! _Deadpool_ and _Suicide Squad_ look amazeballs. Margot Robbie looks like a perfect Harley Quinn and I've already got her theme song picked out in my head. Haha._

_Second thing was the tribute to Jared Padelecki. That was beautiful and made me want to cry! When they all lit up candles and handed him a note...Mental illness is horrible and he has done such an amazing job at raising awareness and assuring people that it's nothing to be ashamed about. He seems like such a beautiful person :)_

_That's all from me today! Let me know what you all think. And remember, if you review, you get a preview of the next chapter xx_


	6. Chapter 6

_Hey guuuuys! Hope you're still into this story, let me know what you think._

_Oh, and if you've been reading any of my other stories, you'll know that I've mentioned doing a motorcycle Clace story. I've actually written the first few chapters, so if you want a preview, let me know. _

"This place is crazy," Maia said under her breath to Clary who raised her eyebrows in agreement as she looked around the building from their place behind a large velvet curtain. It had cost the two girls over thirty dollars on cab fare to come into the city, but the pay was worth it, and Clary couldn't wait to see if she was going to be able to snag a bottle of the fancy champagne on the way out. The club was almost completely full, and they were almost ready to start. There was a crazy looking Indonesian man who was flittering around, making sure their outfits were just so and letting the girls who didn't work there full time where everything was.

"Okay, doll, come on, stop ogling," the man said, rolling his eyes and tugging on Maia's hand. Clary tilted her head to the side as she checked out to Indonesian man; he was very clearly gay, but _God_, he was good looking. He was wearing some skin tight pants, a leather jacket, and absolutely nothing underneath, so that his toned, tanned torso was on full display. "Not my cup of tea, darling," he shot at Clary as he caught her looking him up and down.

"Such a pity," Clary fired back, a smirk curving her pretty red lips upward. "We could have so much fun."

"Except you don't have what I _need _to get off," the man said, but his gold flecked, cat like eyes were dancing and Clary's smirk turned to a grin.

"Clarissa," she introduced herself, holding out her hand, not bothering to get too formal with the man who she probably was never going to see again.

"Magnus," he replied, shaking her hand firmly. "Your boss for this evening."

"Ooh, a man in charge," Clary winked at him. "I like that." Magnus laughed, and Clary grinned with him. There was a shriek from a girl down the end of the back room and Clary turned to see a prissy looking girl who's hair was falling out of the big black clips that all the girls were wearing. "I think you're needed," she said to Magnus, and he rolled his eyes before shooting her a farewell smile and heading down the staff room to attend to the girl. Clary turned to Maia, who was adjusting the gold and black corset that she was wearing, grumbling under her breath.

"You realize we're just going to be groped and ogled at all night," Maia muttered, sounding pissed off.

"You realize we're groped and ogled at _all the time_," Clary rolled her eyes. "What's up your ass tonight?"

"Just in a shit mood," Maia sighed, fiddling with the couple strands of hair that was resting against her cheek. Clary pursed her lips, about to ask for further information but then Magnus clapped his hands to draw their attention. The twenty or so girls in the room all turned to face the man, listening as he advised them of what was to be expected of them tonight. About six of the girls worked here full time, but they only served as waitresses, the burlesque dancers themselves were in the changing rooms next to them. It was the clubs fifth anniversary, and the owner was throwing a big party, which required more people to be brought in to work.

"I look good?" Clary asked, turning around in a full circle before stilling, looking at Maia. They were all dressed the same, wearing the tiny dresses with corseted tops which emphasized their small waists and pushed up their breasts. The corseted top was gold and sparkling which was edged with black lace, tickling at their cleavage, while the skirt—if that's what it could be called, given it barely covered their asses, was also black tulle. They were all wearing tall black stiletto's, which pushed up their asses even more.

"You always look good," Maia rolled her eyes. "If Aline was here, she'd be drooling." Clary smirked before turning to follow out the line of girls who were picking up silver serving trays and heading into the main part of the club.

* * *

_Hypnotica _was surging with energy as Jace and Kaelie stepped inside, not needing to bother with the long line that was curling around the block due to their place on the VIP list. Alec was with them, and he had chosen not to come with any date tonight, probably because this was Magnus's place of work. Kaelie was wearing a tiny silver dress and her hair had been done all up and fancy at the salon that afternoon, and Jace couldn't help but check out his fiancée as she walked in front of him.

"Do you want a drink, babe?" Jace asked as they found a booth to the side of the club, with a good view of the stage.

"Yeah, sure, get me a margarita," Kaelie said as she settled into the booth and looked around disinterestedly. Jace considered flagging down one of the waitresses, but Alec had already started making his way to the bar, so Jace followed after him, sliding his hands into the pockets of his expensive suit pants. Alec was ordering a whiskey at the bar, and Jace held up a couple of fingers so that the bartender came back over.

"Can I get the same as him, and a margarita?" He asked, holding up his platinum card. "Why don't you have to pay?" He asked, looking at Alec, who was sipping from his crystal tumbler.

"Magnus told them to put it on his tab," Alec mumbled, trying to look around the club as though he wasn't searching for someone, but Jace knew better than that. Alec was trying to catch a glimpse of his boyfriend, without being too obvious about it. Jace spotted Magnus standing with Camille in the corner of the club, looking out over their customers. He nudged his friend with his elbow and nodded discreetly in Magnus's direction and Alec turned his head quickly.

"That's real smooth, bro," Jace smirked as he sipped from his tumbler and picked up the margarita. "Real smooth." Alec pursed his lips and looked down. "Hey, come on. You've told Izzy. That's the first step."

"What if I loose him, Jace?" Alec blurted out, swallowing hard as he looked at Jace, his fingers tightening around his glass. "What if he get's tired of waiting for me?" Jace narrowed his eyes when he saw the look of panic on his friends face, an expression that hardly ever came to surface. With the life they led, they were used to hiding their feelings and emotions. Jace reached out to put his hand on Alec's shoulder and squeezed lightly.

"We talked about this the other day, Alec," Jace murmured.

"Yeah, I know, I just..." Alec took in a deep breath and swallowed down the rest of his whiskey.

"You're not going to loose him," Jace assured him quietly.

"How do you know?" Alec muttered.

"Because you're Alexander Lightwood," Jace said with a slight shrug of his shoulder. "And you deserve to be happy, and Magnus makes you happy." The two men stared at each other for a few minutes before Alec rolled his eyes and snorted.

"You're going soft on me, Jace," he smirked, punching him lightly in the shoulder. "Anyway, I'm gonna go try sneak Magnus away, and you should get back to your woman." Jace nodded, finishing off his glass of whiskey and picking up the margarita, weaving amongst the crowd of people to reach the booth where Kaelie was...And her best friend, Seelie Queen. Jace sighed as he slid into the booth next to his fiancée, putting her drink down in front of her.

"Jace!" Seelie cooed, fluttering her eyelashes over at her. "It's been a while."

"Too long," Jace bit out, attempting to sound sincere. Seelie looked as though she was about to continue the conversation, but then the lights dimmed and Camille Belcourt appeared on stage, a spot light falling on her. Cheers went up from the crowds as Camille began her introductions. Jace lost interest a minute in, his eyes drifting around the room. He couldn't see Alec or Magnus, so he hoped that they had found each other in some small cranny in the club. There were waitresses walking around the room, wearing tiny dresses that pushed up their breasts and showed off their pert asses, and Jace didn't mind ogling them while he waited for the show to start.

The first act was a burlesque dance to a sultry Nina Simone song. Jace's attention went back to the stage to watch the girls dance; and they were all very good. They swayed their bodies from side to side, slowly dropping items of clothing until they were practically nude, their gorgeous bodies on full display except for their more private of secrets. Near the end of the dance, flames shot up from the front of the stage and everyone started clapping and whistling.

"Can you get me another one of these?" Kaelie asked, leaning in close to Jace so that he could hear over the music and noise around them. Her hand was on his lap and she squeezed his thigh, her fingers edging toward the zipper of his pants.

"Yeah, sure thing," Jace murmured, holding up his hand to flag down one of the waitresses. There was one who was giving a drink to an older man sitting at one of the tables, and she turned around to come over to them once she was done. She sashayed over, her painted lips in a pout as she posed in front of them, waiting for their order. "Can I get a whiskey and can she get another one of those?" He waved at the drink in front of Kaelie.

"Oh, I'd like one of them as well," Seelie piped up.

"Okay, two of those," Jace told the pretty, dark haired girl. Maia nodded her head and gave them one last smile before spinning around on her pointed heels and headed back toward the bar. She placed the order with the bartender and then turned to Clary, who had just approached the bar with a few empty glasses.

"Do you mind taking this order?" Maia asked, looking at her friend. "I really need to piss, and it's gonna take me, like, six hours to get out of all this shit." She waved down at herself, and to the skin tight dress/corset/leotard that they were dressed in. Clary grinned and nodded, her hand going up to her head to make sure her hair was still pinned up correctly. The hair was the only thing the girls could have done differently from each other, as they long as they had it mostly up with a black clip. Clary and Maia had done each others hair, Maia's in lots of tiny plaits and worked into a bun at the back of her head, while Clary's was all wispy and most of it pinned up while strands hung around her face. "That's them over there," Maia pointed to one of the booths on the far side of the club, and Clary glanced over, seeing three heads.

"Yeah, I've got this," Clary assured her. "Hurry up." Maia gave her a grateful smile before tottering off in her high heels toward the staff break rooms.

"Here we go, Red," the guy behind the counter said.

"Thanks," Clary muttered, taking the drinks from Maia's order and putting them on her tray.

"I haven't seen you around here before," the bartender said, tilting his head to the side as he straightened up, wiping at the tumbler he had just washed. "Are you new?"

"I'm just a stand in for tonight," Clary said, glancing up at him through her thick lashes. He was good looking, with dark haired and honey coloured skin, but she honestly wasn't looking for anything else right now. "I'll see you around," she told him as she turned on her heel and walked off toward the table on the far side of the club. Raphael Santiago watched her go, a small smile curving on his face as his eyes dropped to her ass. Clary reached the booth and turned to put down the drinks. "We've got two margarita's," she murmured, putting them down and sliding them across to two girls who were all dressed up, looking extremely pretty and plastic. "And a whis—" Clary's voice cut off as she saw who it was that she was giving whiskey too.

Jace.

"Clary?" Jace looked up at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey," Clary pursed her lips. She put down the whiskey and straightened up. "These will be added to your tab to be paid before you leave," she recited, before turning to walk away.

"Wait—Clary, hold up," Jace called, struggling to get out of the booth quickly enough to catch up with her. She moved surprisingly quick for a girl in heels, and she didn't slow down until she reached the bar, and then she turned back to face him. Jace jerked back in surprise, stopping and shoving his hands into his pockets. "Hey."

"Hey," Clary quirked an eyebrow.

"Uh," he was suddenly at a loss of things to say, which seemed to happen a lot when she was around. "So you're working here?" He asked lamely, and Clary just stared up at him, with a small smile on her face as her eyes skimmed over him, not responding. "How's Izzy and Max?"

"They're good," Clary tiled her head to the side, a few strands of hair framing her face and making her look even more desirable. "Just as good as they were a couple of days ago when you saw them."

"Yeah," Jace let out an awkward laugh and looked down. He scratched at the back of his head and looked back up at her. She looked fucking gorgeous, in the gold and black dress, her legs looking endless before being finished with some insanely high heels. When his eyes reached her face again, her perfectly plucked eyebrows were raised and her emerald green eyes were amused. "What?"

"You had a good look?" she teased him wryly.

"I've had a good look," Jace teased back.

"Good, because I think that your fiancée is getting a little nervous," she nodded over his shoulder, and Jace chanced a look around. Both blonde girls were looking at him, neither of their faces happy. "Which one of the barbies is she?" Clary asked, studying the two of them. Jace scratched at his neck before glancing at them once more.

"The one in the silver dress," Jace replied.

"Okay," there was a smirk on Clary's face as she looked back at Jace. "She looks like a keeper." Jace pursed his lips together as he looked at her and she rolled her eyes. "Okay, okay, no judging on things we don't know..." she made a face. "Or understand," she added under her breath, but Jace decided to let that one go. "Look, I need to get back to work. This job pays well, and I'd like to get asked to come back."

"Don't worry, Alec has an in with one of the bosses. He can put in a good word for you," Jace told her.

"Oh, yeah?" Clary shrugged. "Sounds good, but I still earn my own way. I want to be asked back because I'm good at what I do, not because of who I know." And with that, she turned around to pick up several more drinks that Raphael had pushed across to her, and Jace was dismissed. He wondered if she would offer him any more conversation, but then she turned and stalked over to who had ordered the drink, plastering a smile on her face.

"She seems like a fire cracker, right, bro?" Raphael smirked at Jace. Jace narrowed his eyes at the bartender before heading back to his booth. Seelie was texting away on her phone but Kaelie was staring at him, her expression a storm cloud.

"Who was that?" She snapped at him, her eyes spitting fire.

"It's Izzy's room mate," Jace replied, keeping his voice even because he didn't want to cause a scene.

"Izzy?!" She demanded.

"Alec's sister," Jace reminded her, taking in a deep breath. Seelie had put her phone down and was now studying the pair of them with interest. "Look, I don't want to fight, okay?" Jace murmured, leaning in close to Kaelie and nuzzling his face into her neck. Kaelie was stiff, but she didn't pull away, so he pressed a kiss to her soft skin before pulling back. "She's just a friend, babe," he assured her, but she continued to glare, although she didn't say anything. He slumped in his seat, staring up to where a couple of girls were dancing in gold and silver bikini's around a taller woman who was throwing firey batons into the air. About half an hour later, Alec came back to join them in the booth, a smile on his face and his hair looking a little messed up.

"Where have you been?" Seelie asked, tilting her head to the side with a sultry expression on her face. Alec looked over at her, attempting to keep the look of disgust off his face as he forced a smile.

"Just catching up with a friend," he replied shortly. Seelie moved a little closer to him, lowering her voice, and Jace saw her hand disappear under the table. Jace shot his friend a sympathetic look but to be honest, he was glad that she was focussing on Alec. Despite being Kaelie's best friend, Seelie pretty much came onto Jace every time they were alone, and sometimes when they weren't alone. At times it was okay, because when Kaelie got really drunk, she liked to involve Seelie in their sex life, which Jace would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy.

But other than that he was loyal to Kaelie, even if she wasn't to him.

He had dealt with enough cheating in his life.

"I think I'm going to bail soon," Alec murmured across the table as the girls slid together around the centre booth to talk.

"You're going to leave me again?" Jace made a face.

"I'm pretty sure you're going to be okay—wait, is that Clary?" Alec's body jerked as he saw the waitress walking through the crowd. Jace nodded and let out a heavy breath through his nose as he looked back over at the girl, who still looked as fucking stunning as she had when he had talked to her earlier. Alec's eyes were pretty wide, though, as he stared at the two of them.

"Yeah, I saw her earlier," Jace responded. Clary put down her tray, and was now standing next to Magnus. They were talking, and then they were laughing, and Clary made a face—clearly telling him some story by the way she was waving her hands around. Alec frowned as he looked over.

"She knows Magnus?"

"He probably hired her," Jace shrugged. "I doubt he knows who she is though." Alec was still watching them closely, and Jace wasn't surprised, because it was a pretty surprising coincidence; his boyfriend and his sisters best friend being thrown together. "You still heading off early?" Jace asked, looking over at Alec, who jerked his attention away from the two to look back at his friend.

"Uh, yeah," he replied. "Yeah, I have an early morning tomorrow. Some big brunch with mum and dad's friends."

"Colleagues," Jace corrected.

"There really isn't a difference," Alec muttered. "Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow night, right?"

"Tomorrow night?"

"Dinner at Isabelle's?" Alec reminded him and his eyes flashed.

"Oh right, I completely forgot about that," Jace made a face. "Sorry, just had heaps on my plate the past couple of days."

"Yeah, it's sweet. So, am I picking you up or the other way around?"

"Uh," Jace pursed his lips as he thought. "I'll pick you up, I need to go out after."

"Out, aye?" Alec's upper lip curled slightly in a smile.

"Yeah, out," Jace repeated, rolling his eyes at his friends mocking. "I'll walk you out, I need to get some fresh air." Alec nodded. He said his farewells to the girls, kissing them each on the cheek, before making his way toward the entrance with Jace in tow. A couple of the waitresses brushed up against them on their way out, and Jace couldn't help but give them some glances of appreciation up and down as they past. Alec handed his parking ticket over to the valet who disappeared and the two men stood next to each other, making small talk as they waited for the car to be brought around. As the car came around, Alex gave one last smile to Jace before thanking the valet and sliding inside.

"Did you need me to bring your car around as well, sir?" The valet asked, but Jace just shook his head and turned to head back inside, winding his way through the crowds toward the booth. The lights were dancing across the room and there were dancers jumping from the stage and gyrating on top of tables in the midst of the audience.

"Hey," Jace gave Kaelie and Seelie a smile as she slid into the booth. Kaelie barely gave him a glance, her eyes giving him a second before looking back down at her phone. Seelie let her smile linger on him though, and Jace quickly turned his gaze back to the dancers on the tables. A girl was on a table next to them, her hair pinned up high on her head with pink and blue ribbons streaming down around her pretty face. She was barely wearing anything, it looked like a body suit which was completely sheer, except for a spattering on sequins at the centre of her legs and at her nipples—only her nipples, the rest of her breasts were completely clear. The girl made a leap, surprisingly agile for a girl in six inch heels, and landed on the table of the booth that Jace, Kaelie and Seelie were at. "Shit," Jace jerked slightly in surprise as his eyes lifted to look at her.

The girl smirked down at him, swinging her hips from side to side, and Kaelie lifted up her head from looking at her phone. The dancer slid down, kneeling on the table while parting her legs, her hands twisting around herself, one sliding down her stomach while the other went around her hair.

Kaelie's eyes looked completely uninterested as she watched the dancer and Jace wanted to pinch her leg to at least look as though she was enjoying the show a _little _bit.

The dancer sat down on the table and spun her legs around so that she was sitting on the table, swinging her legs. Jace's eyes went around the room, to see that other dancers. Some of them were still on tables, two were back on the stage, arms linked together as they danced to the music. One was on the bar, looking as though she was seducing the bartender, who was undoubtedly enjoying it. Jace's eyes were then drawn to Clary, who was stalking by, looking completely mouth watering in her get up. She delivered drinks to the people in the booth next to them, and when she turned around, the dancer on Jace's table straightened out one of her legs, blocking Clary from carrying on past.

The laughably dressed dancer leaned forward, sliding one of her hands around Clary's neck and then pulling her in close to push her lips against hers. Jace's eyes widened as Clary responded, kissing the dancer back, and cheers went up from a group of men who were in suits at a booth in front of the two girls.

"I thought they weren't allowed to touch," Kaelie muttered, not looking happy about the amount of attention the girls were getting...Or maybe the way that Jace couldn't tear his eyes away from them. When they parted and Clary finished it with a wink before striding back to the bar, Jace turned to his girlfriend. The dancer had got off their table and was cart wheeling her way back to the stage.

"They're not supposed to touch customers, but Clary is an employee," he corrected her. Kaelie rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. The looks of disdain that stained her face was not an attractive one, and Jace turned his eyes back to the stage, where the lights were suddenly dimming. Claps and cheers went up from the crowd as all of the lights were turned on again, and the stage was left in inky blackness. "Do you want another drink?" Jace asked. Both blondes nodded, although their complete attentions were on their phones. Jace held up his hand for a waitress, ordering a couple of more drinks and having them delivered.

A few hours went by, and he really couldn't help himself as his eyes searched out Clary. She was working well, and she caught the attention of every man that she walked past—along with a couple of woman as well. He really couldn't blame them; this whole environment encouraged the girls to be looked at, the way they were dressed, the way they were acting, shit; even just they way they were walking.

"I'm just going to head outside for a cigarette, okay?" Jace murmured, leaning over to kiss Kaelie. She screwed up her nose slightly and proffered her cheek to him. Jace let out a hiss of annoyance and pecked her cheek before getting out of the booth and heading back outside. Smoking wasn't permitted out the front of the building, it lowered the value of the place, but there was section outside around the back that was for smokers. There were two other people out there, talking and smoking at the far end of the fenced off area but Jace kept to himself. He lit up his cigarette and put it between his lips and puffed away, trying to clear his mind.

Clary was clouding his head, and it wasn't right.

He needed a distraction, somewhere to direct his thoughts.

He really hoped he got a call from Jordan tonight.

After about fifteen minutes, Jace headed back inside. He started heading toward the booth before he realized that his girlfriend wasn't there. Seelie nodded her head in the direction of the short hall that led down to the bathrooms. He went down there, ignoring the pumping music that was pounding out of the speakers and the new set of dancers who were on stage in flashy outfits. He found her, sitting on one of the cushiony benches just outside the powder room, resting her head in her hands.

Sometimes Kaelie got like this; something that she undoubtedly inherited from her mother, and also her step mother. It was something that was common among the woman in Jace's society circles—it kind of went along with bulimia.

"Hey, babe, you okay?" He asked, sitting down next to her and putting his arm over her shoulders.

"I've had a couple of drinks," Kaelie slurred, a smile on her lipstick smeared mouth. Jace suppressed the rush of annoyance that went through him as he looked down at his girlfriend and saw how drunk she was. "I think that maybe I want to go home..."

"Really?" Jace asked. "We've only been here for, like, three hours. The best stuff is always after one."

"I want to go home, Jace," Kaelie repeated, a little whinier this time and he sighed.

"Right, okay," Jace swallowed down his frustration. "Do you want to go to your place or mine?"

"Yours," she told him.

"Right," he said again. "I need to go back inside and get my coat, it has my ticket in it. Will you be okay here for a sec?" Kaelie mumbled under her breath and Jace took that as an affirmative and walked back into the club. The disappointment was clear on his face as he said goodbye to Seelie and tried not to look too conspicuous glancing around the club to see if Clary or Magnus, but he couldn't catch a glimpse of either of them on his way out. He paused by Kaelie and held out his hand to her. "You ready to go?"

* * *

"Cary?" Maia walked into the dressing room where Clary was pulling off the high heels she had been in for the past eight hours. "There's this guy..."

"I'm so not in the mood right now," Clary groaned as she began taking the clips out of her hair and letting it fall down, around her face. "I just want to go home and go to sleep."

"He can give us a ride home," Maia wheedled, tilting her head toward Clary with a hopeful look on her face. Clary sighed as she rubbed her hands over her face and then reached behind her to try and undo the laces that were holding the corset top up. "After a bit of a detour..."

"Fine," Clary huffed. "But what's the detour?"

"Well," there was a gleam in her friends eye. "Apparently he boosts cars."

_Ooh, okay, so I'm going to take a minute to gush about Aaron Taylor-Johnson. OMG. So I thought he was kind of geeky cute in _Kick Ass _and then he had this incredible body in _Kick Ass 2, _and then I saw him in _Godzilla _and was like daaaaaaaaamn. Then _Avengers: AoU _came out with the accent and the dyed hair and fuck me, my ovaries. *Swoon* Fuck, he is beautiful. Then I went back and watched _Savages _which is now one of my favourite movies and he is so, so, so, _SO _bangin' hot in that. You all need to join in my love fest with him._

_Oh, and the other thing that has made me happy over the past few weeks! _Trainwreck _with Amy Schumer is incredible. I think me and my friend were the loudest ones in the cinema, pissing ourselves laughing and yelling at the screen. Anyway, you need to check the movie out. It's amazing. _

Remember, for a review you pretties get a preview of the next chapter.


	7. Chapter 7

_I was surprised I managed to get this written so quickly. I think I was so worried that I wouldn't have it up within the two weeks that I rushed it all. Sorry about any mistakes! I did try to edit it all, but I'm so, so busy, and I just wanted to get it all up._

_This is one of my favourite stories to write. And because I've come to a bit of a writing block and I want to get some more ideas flowing, I've decided I'm going to choose a couple of reviews to do prompts for, if that's something you guys are into! The prompts are just for oneshots, and _won't _be done straight away, just letting you know. Hopefully within the next month, maybe two, but I will get them done! Let me know if it's something you're interested in :)_

"How well do you know this guy, Maia?" Clary asked as they stood on the edge of the concrete footpath, holding their Country Road bags close.

"Really?" Maia snorted. "Are you trying to give me the stranger danger talk?" Clary grumbled under her breath, taking a couple of steps on the spot, trying to warm herself up. It was almost three thirty and Clary just wanted to get home, shower, and fall into her bed for a good few days. "Look, I met him a couple of nights ago, and he seems really nice."

"Where did you meet him?" Clary grumbled.

"At work—but that's not the point," Maia replied in a rush. Clary just rolled her eyes and huffed under her breath. "We had plans tonight, and then I ended up working this gig, and I didn't think I was going to be able to see him, that's why I was in a shitty mood earlier. But then he text me on my break and said we could meet up," she nudged Clary in the side with her elbow, trying to cheer her up. "I'm sure he's got friends."

"I've got enough guys in my life right now," Clary muttered.

"Ooh, yeah, who was that hot blonde guy who you were talking too?" Maia raised her eyebrows. "He was _fine_."

"He's just an old friend of Izzy's," Clary shrugged, not wanting to talk about Jace when she hadn't even sorted out how she felt about him herself. The two fell quiet as they waited for Maia's man to show up. A couple of minutes later, a blue BMW pulled up and the window rolled down.

"Hey, babe," Jordan grinned at Maia, and then glanced at Clary. "You guys ready to go?" Maia slid into the passenger seat while Clary got in the backseat, looking around with her nose upturned. There was a grey suit jacket in the backseat, along with a briefcase.

"Are we a pit stop on the way to a business meeting?" She asked sarcastically. Jordan grinned over his shoulder at her.

"Not my car," he answered carelessly. "We're meeting up with a couple of my mates to hit this party that happened in central city."

"Lovely," Clary muttered under her breath, not looking at all impressed. There was some pop song playing away on the radio, and Maia's hand stretched across the centre console of the car and was massaging his thigh. There was no doubt that in Clary's mind that if she wasn't in the car, then it would be Maia's mouth creeping toward Jordan's crotch, not her hand. She pursed her lips and looked out the window as they sped through the city. She was definitely a night owl. Due to her profession, she was generally out all through the night, and slept through half of the day, so she was used to the night life.

"We're here," Jordan pulled over and opened his door. Clary and Maia got out with him, and Clary turned her narrow eyes from one boy to the next as they joined the semi circle on the footpath.

"Think you could drive with one of these guys and give us some privacy?" Maia whispered to Clary.

"You're fucking with me right?" Clary's upper lip curled. "These guys look dodgy as shit." Maia's eyes were pleading as she stuck out her lower lip and Clary just rolled her eyes, turning back to the boys. They were talking amongst themselves, apparently still waiting on one more guy to join them. Maia was still giving her puppy dog eyes and she sighed. "Fine, if the next guy that shows up doesn't look like he's got some kinky foot fetish like the rest of them do—then I'll go with them."

"Thank you," Maia grinned and leaned forward to kiss her quickly on the mouth. Clary just rolled her eyes and looked back to the boys, who were looking at them with interest. Maia grinned back at the lot of them, but the sulky expression remained on Clary's face.

"There he is!" Jordan nodded over at a quickly approaching Mazda. Clary glanced over as the door opened and the person stepped out, the engine still running.

"Jace?" Clary's eyes widened.

"Clary?" He frowned at her, and then looked over at Jordan. "What's she doing here?"

"Uh," Jordan's eyebrows furrowed as he looked between them and then focussed on Jace. "Why? What's wrong? Is she a narc?"

"No, no," Jace quickly assured him, speaking up so that the indignant Clary didn't run her mouth. "She's fine."

"Good, because she's tagging along with you," Jordan said before turning back to his friends. Obviously he had the same plan as Maia—getting themselves alone in the stolen vehicle. Clary was about to protest about being passed around like luggage but Maia just nudged her and cleared her throat, so she just glared pointedly. When all the boys broke out of their huddle, Clary grabbed her bag from the backseat of the BMW and stalked over to Jace's car, her heels clicking away on the ground. Everyone else was getting in Jordan's car—or at least, the car that was Jordan was driving. Jace walked around to the other side of the car, getting inside. He glanced at her sideways, but didn't say anything as the car in front of them merged with the traffic and sped away.

"This is a...Strange coincidence," Jace finally said.

"Whatever," Clary muttered. "Would you just drive?" Jace shrugged and then nodded at her seatbelt. "Are you serious?" She asked in disbelief.

"I'm the follow car," Jace said. "I can't get pulled over." She rolled her eyes, but the seatbelt on, making a big show as she did so before shooting him a wide, extremely fake smile.

"Happy?" She snapped.

"Peachy," Jace smirked back at her, indicating to pull out and then swerving away from the edge. They drove for a good ten minutes in silence, the only noise coming from the Seether mix that was playing on the radio. He stopped at a set of traffic lights at the BMW was pulling into a five-storied car parking lot. He didn't follow them in, pulling over to the side of the road and idling there.

"Have you ever been caught?" Clary asked. Jace shook his head, his eyes trained on the exit of the building. "Ever come close?" He nodded once at that, still not looking over at her. She pursed her lips and looked down at her leys, which were bare given she was only wearing a dress which finished just above her knees. Another ten minutes passed, and she bounced her feet up and down. "This is boring."

"Patience," Jace broke his gaze at the parking building for a couple of seconds and shot her a look. "You can go to sleep if you want—I won't take advantage of you or anything," the smile he shot at her was absolutely predatory, and it made Clary's stomach clench in a way that it hadn't in a long time. She managed to fix a disgusted look on her face and she grumbled under her breath as she looked away, pulling out her phone to send off a text to Isabelle and let her know that she probably wouldn't be home by five. Suddenly, an alarm was going off and echoing through the building and spilling out onto the streets. "Shit," Jace grunted under his breath.

"What's that?" Clary's eyes widened.

"_'That_' means that one of the idiots didn't disable the alarm properly," Jace growled as he moved the car into first gear, ready to take off. The first car came out, the bumper slamming against the ground and sending sparks up into the air and a horrible grating noise sounding out. The second car then came out, quickly followed by the BMW. "They didn't get the last car," Jace slammed his foot down on the accelerator, dropping the clutch. "Fucking idiot." Clearly the first driver had been spooked by the alarm because he was driving along above the speed limit.

"Don't fucking kill us!" Clary snapped at him as he took a corner sharply and two wheels almost raised off the road.

"Trust me," Jace said under his breath as he followed behind the three cars at a good distance. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and handed it to her. "Can you speed dial four?" She did as he asked, holding it up to her ear.

"What?" Snipped a voice down the line and she quickly pressed speaker phone.

"Slow the fuck down!" Jace shouted over to her. "You're gonna fuck us all!" The radio was turned all the way down now and Clary was tugging on her lower lip with her teeth as she held the phone up between them, so that Jace could hear the response and be heard. She would be lying if she said that the adrenaline wasn't getting to her—tying up a knot in her stomach and accelerator making her body tense. God, this was how she had originally got with Sebastian. He was a drug dealer, and there was a big fight that went down at one of the parties she was at. He ended up with a bloody nose and a split lip, and she hadn't left his apartment for three days. She wasn't an adrenaline junkie to a dangerous point, but she definitely liked a little bit more than the normal person.

"Does your girlfriend know that you do this?" Clary asked, tilting her head as she looked over at him, her emerald eyes glittering under the street lights.

"Fiancée," Jace absent-mindedly corrected her.

"Sorry, fiancée," Clary made a face. "Aren't you a little young to be engaged?" Jace looked over at her, a grin playing out across his mouth.

"Didn't we attempt a conversation into one anothers private lives once before and realize that it didn't end well?" Jace teased her lightly and Clary gave a one shouldered shrug. They fell quiet again, however he reached over and pressed the button to lower his window, so that the wind was whipping at his face. He pressed down a little harder on the accelerator, slowly teasing the speed limit before finally the car overtook it.

The way Clary's eyes widened and her lips pulled upwards slightly didn't escape him.

He tested his theory again, trying not to get too distracted from what he was actually meant to be doing, but damn did this red head screw with his brain. He was steadily catching up to the other cars, and he saw Clary's little pink tongue come out and swipe across her lower lip, her pearly whites biting down in excitement as he flew down the street.

Jordan waved out his window, indicating that he was fine, as he pulled down a side street, probably toward his apartment. Or somewhere to dump the BMW. The other two cars were inching their way out of the central city, toward the rougher half where Clary lived and the chop shop was. All three cars were speeding now, coming into the suburbs where there weren't as many cops—at least not at this time of the morning. Jace's phone rang, and he indicated that Clary answer it and put it on speakerphone.

"We're good, man. We'll catch you next time." Jace say his goodbyes before she ended the call.

"I guess that's it?" Clary sounded disappointed.

"I should really drop you off, I don't want Kaelie to wake up and me not be there," Jace was pretty disappointed himself. Not like anything was going to happen...Or could happen. Kaelie drove him up the fucking wall, but in the two years they had been together, he had never cheated on her, despite the temptation.

"Okay," Clary nodded. Her own phone began vibrating and she pulled it out, replying quickly to the text.

"Pretty early for someone to be texting you," Jace noted as they reached the more densely populated streets.

"It's Seb," she shrugged. "He doesn't really sleep." Jace wasn't going to ask questions that he didn't want to hear the answers to. But right now she was with him, she was his. So he slammed his foot down on the accelerator and quickly shifted into fifth gear. She let out a squeak of surprise, but there was a grin on her face as the car drifted around the corner and left burning rubber on the ground. Jace tore through the streets, skilfully navigating the corners as he approached her home. The speed that they were going at, was definitely not safe, but Jace clearly knew how to handle the car, so Clary wasn't worrying. They were on the opposite side of the street to the house, and as they approached, Jace glanced at her sideways before pulling up the handbrake and jerking the wheel, so that the car spun around and parked perfectly at the curb, outside the house. "Shit," Clary breathed, her hand on the dashboard.

"You good?" Jace sent her a cocky grin.

"Yeah, I'm good," Clary quickly composed herself, but there was still a smile on her face with an appraising look in her eyes. Jace's smile faltered slightly as he stared over at her, taking in the dark green of her eyes and way her red hair framed her delicate face.

What was it about this girl that made him feel so..._Confused _and _crazy _all at the same time?

"I better go in," Clary said, clearing her throat to snap her out of their silent moment. "I need to get some sleep."

"Yeah, yeah, same here," Jace agreed, blinking rapidly as he turned back to look out the front window and letting his fingers clench around the wheel of the car. Clary pursed her lips as she took off her seat belt and picked up her bag from the ground, wrapping her fingers around the strap.

"I'll see you later," she murmured, reaching across the centre console to press a kiss against his cheek. However, it was the exact moment that Jace went to turn back and look at her, and their lips collided. Both of them pulled back at the same moment, giving each other wide eyed looks. Clary let out a nervous giggle first, to break the moment and opened her door. "Bye!" She called softly over her shoulder as she ran up the steps leading to her and Isabelle and Max's walk up. Jace told himself that he was only waiting to make sure she got inside safely, because it was still pitch black in the early hours of the morning, but even after she had disappeared inside, he couldn't stop staring at the door.

"Shit," he breathed out, shaking his head sharply and throwing the car into first gear, roaring down the street.

* * *

Clary had showered and gone to bed as soon as she had gotten home. Given it was now five thirty, she should have fallen asleep the second she had tumbled into bed, only wearing a thong and a baggy shirt.

But she hadn't.

All she kept thinking about was Jace. About how gorgeous he had looked in the drivers seat, his hair tousled in the wind and his golden eyes narrowed in concentration. His pink lips were entrancing...The way he pulled them into his mouth and tugged at them with his teeth...When they were at the club, in his suit, and the amazed way he had looked her up and down.

The way that he made her stomach flip was nothing that she had felt before.

She shook her head sharply, burying it in her pillow and trying to force herself to switch her brain off.

* * *

"You got a ride home with Jace?" Isabelle asked, her eyebrows raised as she looked over the counter at an exhausted looking Clary. The red head was a mess, her hair tangled, knotted, and pulled into a bun, and was wearing grey sweatpants and a white singlet. She took another long drink from her coffee cup and then put it down, shrugging and then nodding. "That is...Weird."

"Yeah, he's friends with this guy that Maia is seeing," Clary mumbled, her voice sounding scratchy from the lack of sleep. "Small world."

"Very small," Isabelle was still watching her carefully, but Clary didn't seem to notice. "So what time did you get back?"

"Like around five?" She shrugged.

"I thought you finished at three," Isabelle commented.

"Uh, the place closed at three, the cleaning and shit kept going until about half past," Clary shrugged and picked up her coffee cup again. "And then we were with Maia and her friends—or her boyfriends friends—and then I ran into Jace." She finished off the bitter, brown liquid and picked up her cigarette's and lighter from the table top. "You got work tonight?" She asked on her way out to the balcony.

"It's an awkward one," Isabelle made a face. "Starting at two, so can—"

"I pick Max up from school?" Clary finished for her as she stopped on the balcony and rested her ass against the railing so that she was facing back into the house and looking at Isabelle. "That's fine." The dark haired girl nodded and slowly walked toward Clary. "What?" Clary arched an eyebrow as she put a cigarette into the corner of her mouth and lit it up.

"Do you have a thing for Jace?" Isabelle asked bluntly. Clary blinked at her, and then pulled the cigarette out of her mouth and let out a short laugh.

"What?!" She exclaimed.

"Do you have a thing for Jace?" She repeated. Clary blinked a couple of times before letting out a snort.

"You're kidding, right?" Clary asked, her upper lip still curled in a smirk. "I don't even know the guy. And even if I did, when have you ever known me to have a 'thing' for some guy?" She rolled her eyes as she put the cigarette back in her mouth and took in a long breath. Isabelle was still looking at her evenly, arms crossed over her chest, and lips pursed in a straight line. Clary finally let out a sigh and took the fag out of her mouth. "Okay, so he's hot. Like _fucking gorgeous._ Doesn't mean that I have a thing for him."

"Yeah, okay," Isabelle finally said, not sounding as though she believed her. Clary just rolled her eyes.

"Right, well, I'm going to go over to Sebastian's," Clary said as she dropped her half smoked cigarette on the ground and stubbed it out with her heel. "To have mind blowing sex. Something that it sounds like _you _need so that you don't go around and invent things that aren't there in your mind." Clary patted Isabelle on the cheek on her way past to the front door. She took her jacket off the hook and slipped into it before opening the door and heading out.

Isabelle was wrong.

Clary didn't have a thing for Jace.

But there was...There was definitely _something _there.

Nothing that was going to affect her going forward, though, because her and Jace were from seperate worlds and she didn't do relationships. And he was _engaged_.

_The last thing; a few of you were upset that there was no preview for the last chapter. So they're back! A preview for a review x_


	8. Chapter 8

_Next chapter, guys! Hope you're all enjoying it. This chapter is updated today all due to _FrenchBenzo, _so that's who to thank ;) We get more Magnus in this chapter, and yes, we do get a little Clace there at the end...I apologize for any mistakes made. I'm super tired. _

"So where's your better half?" Stephen Herondale asked, picking up his crystal tumbler and swirling around the amber liquid in his hand. Jace kept his eyes narrow as he stared over at his father, who was sitting in the leather armchair across from him.

"I don't think they get called your better half until you're actually married," Jace replied, his voice even despite look of disgust that was plain on his face.

"She looks good on your arm, and she knows how to act in front of the press," he nodded approvingly. "That's the kind of thing that you're looking for in a wife. She is a gorgeous girl," Stephen continued. Jace rolled his eyes upward before looking back over at his father with narrowed eyes.

"Then why aren't _you _dating her?" Jace snipped.

"Well, it would definitely be frowned upon if that came into the light in those trashy magazines," Stephen shrugged, not looking too disturbed by Jace's sarcastic comment. "Of course if you're offering to come to some private agreement, then I'm all ears," he sent over a dirty smile at Jace, who just continued to glare at him. "Okay, so let's get down to business. I want you at the meeting with the new investors this Thursday."

"Okay," Jace stated.

"And then there is a board meeting on the Friday," Stephen continued. "Which you are required to be at."

"Okay," Jace repeated, his voice flat. God, he hated these meetings. Most of the time, he really didn't need to do anything to make his father happy. Show up to a couple of meetings, act as though he was interested in taking over the family business. He honestly was, he knew he didn't really have any other options. He went to University to study business, and he passed amicably, but not well. The hotel business was a profitable one, and it was what he was getting groomed to do since he was eleven. "Is there anything else you needed, other than to ask if I would be okay with you screwing my fiancée? Because you could've just told me this over the phone."

"Yes, there was something actually," Stephen leaned forward and put his glass down on his solid, mahogany desk. Jace pursed his lips and looked at his father expectantly. "How's your mother doing?" The golden haired boy stood up and straightened out the Armani suit jacket that he was wearing—he always wore his best clothes when going to see Stephen.

"She's doing absolutely fine," Jace said steely. "And you also have no right to ask about her. You lost all those rights when you cheated on her left, right and centre." He turned on his heel and started toward the doors. He paused at the heavy set doors and tilted his head to the side. "New fling?" He bit out as he looked over at the lamp on the small table by the door, that had a lacy pair of panties hooked around the base. Stephen just gave a small smile in response as his son stalked out of the room. Jace reached the elevator and stabbed at the down button. As the penthouse suite, it got priority, and soon the door's were opening. The instant he was inside and whizzing down to the basement where his car was parked, he pulled out his phone and rang the number on his speed dial.

"Not going too well?" Alec's voice came down the line.

"Does it ever go well?" Jace snapped as he pulled his keys out of his pocket and pressed the remote to unlock the doors, swinging the drivers side open when he reached it. "Look, are you busy?" He asked as he slumped in the drivers seat and closed his eyes. "Dude, tell me you're not busy because I need to get out of my head."

"Uh," Alec sounded faraway from the phone, so he guessed that his friend was driving with his phone on speaker. "I was just going over to have lunch with Magnus. Nothing fancy, I just picked up some sandwiches and shit. You could come?"

"I want to go out to the water tower," Jace stated as he opened his eyes and pulled his seat belt on. He heard Alex laugh and could imagine his friend shaking his head.

"Shit, man, it's been ages since we've been out there," Alec said. "Yeah, sure. I'll give Magnus a call and ask him to meet us there."

"I'm going past his building in a sec, tell him to meet me downstairs," Jace replied.

"Sure thing," Alec answered. "Oh yeah—think you could ask him about Clary?"

"No way, buddy," Jace laughed as he turned over the engine of his car, already feeling better from just talking to his best friend. "That's all yours." Alec sounded like he was about to start protesting, so Jace cut him off. "Okay, bro, let Magnus know that I'll be there in about ten minutes," he said. "See you soon!" He quickly ended the call before Alec could protest any further. He pulled out of the underground parking lot and merged with the traffic. In his rear view mirror, he caught a glimpse of his father on the sidewalk, getting into his town car.

Yet another difference between him and the almighty Stephen.

Jace couldn't even remember the last time his father was in the front seat of a car, muchless driving one. He floored the accelerator and his car zipped through the New York traffic. There were toots and shouts as he cut other drivers off, until he was pulling up outside Magnus' apartment building, just as as the Indonesian man was coming out the door.

"Hey, Mags," Jace greeted the man as he slipped into the passenger seat.

"That's Magnus to you, golden boy," Magnus replied with a theatrical sigh, but there was a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "So, you're hijacking my date with my man? What's the occasion?"

"Um," Jace wasn't one hundred percent certain what or how much Alec had told his boyfriend, and he honestly didn't feel like launching into a mass speech about all the different reasons why Jace hated his father. He settled for a shrug. "Family shit."

"Oh, right," Magnus nodded knowingly as he leaned forward to fiddle with Jace's stereo. "Families can be pretty messed up—and they screw with you head as well." He settled on a channel which was playing some techno dance song kind of thing, but rather than arguing, Jace just looked at him in surprise.

"You don't get on with your family?" He had always just assumed that Magnus, who had come from a virtually normal household, must be from a loving home. Clearly, he was wrong from the expression on Magnus' face.

"Eh, I'm happy. I don't need them," Magnus stated, trying to sound as though he didn't mind, but betrayed by the strain in his voice. "I'm in a good place now—love my job, love my apartment, love my boyf—" the way Magnus broke off his sentence was almost comical, and Jace couldn't stop the snort of laughter.

"Good to know that isn't just a straight man thing," Jace joked. Magnus just rolled his eyes and reached over to turn the music up louder. Jace focussed on driving through the heavy midday traffic. He had never really spent much time with Magnus, given they were never really in the same place at the same time. They ran in different society circles, had different friends and definitely had different interests. But whenever he had seen Magnus, they had got on well and Alec was clearly completely infatuated by him.

And obviously Magnus was too.

They managed to edge out of the city almost twenty minutes later and turned down a road that was lined with industrial buildings. Magnus was looking around with a confused expression on his face, so Alec clearly had never brought him out here. It had been where Jace and Alec had started coming when they were about fourteen. Alec's father owned most of the businesses down here, and so they had free reign of the place when he came out for meetings and wanted them to entertain themselves. Nowadays, the business had expanded to the point where Robert never needed to come out anymore, but the boys still did when they needed to get away.

"Hey, Josh," Jace grinned up at the guard who was posted in front of the eight foot tall gate.

"Long time, no see, Mr Wayland!" Joshua Green greeted him, a smile on his weathered face. "I hear that you're engaged now! Pretty girl," the guard nodded. Magnus noted that Jace's hand tensed around the gearstick at the mention of Kaelie before answering.

"Yeah, yeah, she's gorgeous," Jace said. "Hey, has Alec come through yet?"

"Just a couple of minutes ago," Josh replied. "You boys heading up to the water tower?" Jace nodded and Josh lowered his voice, leaning forward in his post. "You be careful. They've installed new security cameras all over the place." Jace cringed. It's not as though anything bad would happen if the video footage was passed onto their fathers, but there would questions and they would both be told it wasn't appropriate for them to be out there. They had worked hard to keep their spot on the grassy hill behind the water tower a secret, and he wasn't planning on letting it come out now.

"Who's up in the security building at the moment?" Jace asked.

"Leo—a new guy," Josh replied.

"Think he'd be willing to redirect the camera for a few hours?" Jace questioned with a raise of his eyebrow.

"I'm sure he could," Josh said with a pointed look. Magnus' eyebrows almost disappeared into his hairline as Jace pulled out a leather wallet from between the seats and took a couple of notes out, handing them over to the guard. "I'll give the boy a call, ask him to focus on the buildings."

"You're a good man, Josh," Jace grinned as he slid his car into first gear and the gate began to open. Magnus waited until they were driving down a gravel road and well out of earshot of the guard before talking.

"That a common thing?" He asked, trying to keep his voice level.

"Money talks," Jace shrugged, not looking too bothered, glancing over at Magnus. "It's pretty normal—you get used to it."

"No," Magnus shook his head. "I don't think you do." Jace didn't really know how to reply to that, and was glad when he spotted Alec's sports car ahead, partially hidden by an old shed. Jace pulled up next to him and got out of the car, pocketing the keys. Magnus grinned widely as he walked over to Alec, who was sitting on the bonnet of his car. There was a brief kiss and then Alec's cheeks were flushing red as he glanced over at Jace. It occurred to the blonde that he was probably the first person who had ever actually seen the two of them kiss, and that made a part of him damn pissed off.

Two people who loved each other—even if they couldn't admit it to themselves—shouldn't have to hide what they had.

"So?" Alec asked. "What prompted this visit to the water tower?"

"What do you think?" Jace's previous bout of annoyance was back and his eyes clouded over. "Stephen."

"What was it this time?"

"Does there really have to be anything specific?" Jace sorted as he loosened the neck of his tie and then jerked it over his head, throwing it in his car. "He wants me to be more involved in the business, but he only wants me there for certain things. He wants me to be at the business meetings, but just to sit there and look pretty. Drinking and acting like a puppet with his investors, showing off Kaelie at events, acting like his fucking marionette doll," he let out a sharp breath through his nose and ran his hand through his shaggy hair.

"Well, that's kind of why you're with Kaelie, right?" Alec prodded, although his expression was sympathetic. "Se's supposed to be on those perfect socialite wives who is seen but never heard—and your dad and her dad have that business agreement based on your engagement—"

"Wait!" Magnus suddenly jumped into the conversation, his eyes flickering between them. "What?!"

"What?" Jace looked confused.

"Your father and Kaelie's father had some kind of _business deal _based on your _engagement_?" Magnus asked incredulously. "What are we in—the 1800's?!" Alec winced at his boyfriends attitude and glanced over at Jace, wondering what his reaction would be.

Jace stared at Magnus for a long moment, before suddenly, he started laughing. Alec was as surprised as Magnus and the two exchanged looks before letting their gazes slide back to Jace.

"Shit," Alec muttered. "Now he's having some psychotic break."

"No, I'm not," Jace rolled his eyes, but he was still grinning and his face looked a whole lot lighter. "It's just—it's just completely true!" Alec blinked. "I mean, for us it's normal. But it really actually isn't!" Alec's eyebrows were still raised as he turned back to his boyfriend, who was now grinning. "Fucking hell, Magnus, you and Clary are going to get on like a house on fire at dinner tonight."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Alec muttered as he crossed his arms over his chest. Jace gave him a pointed look and the dark haired man sighed, turning to Magnus. "So, uh, tonight is going to be the first time you've met Clary."

"What?" Magnus looked confused. "When?'

"At your club last night, your guys must have hired a bunch of outside girls to waitress, because I've never seen her there before—"

"Clarissa?" Magnus interrupted. Alec blinked and then nodded, watching curiously as a smirk pulled Magnus' mouth up in a smirk. "Ah. Knew I liked that girl," he let out a short laugh. But then he frowned and looked back at Jace. "You were watching her the whole night," he stated.

"What? No, I wasn't—no, I, uh," Jace stammered and Alec rolled his eyes.

"Okay," he began. "Before we even start on Jace's screwed up feelings for my sisters room mate—can we eat? I'm starving."

* * *

"This is a good thing, Iz," Clary genty reminded the flustered, dark haired girl.

"This is so bad—this such a bad idea," Isabelle was repeating to herself. "This is one of worst ideas I've ever had—why didn't you stop me, Clary?!" She turned her accusatory gaze toward the red head, who just shrugged, looking unapologetic. "Oh, God, and where's Simon?" She swung her desperate eyes toward the door.

"Ooh, Simon, aye?" Clary smirked and nudged her friend in the side with her elbow. "You think that a last minute quickie will get rid of those nerves?" She smirked, appearing oblivious to Isabelle's deathly glare.

"No, Clarissa," Isabelle growled. "He's got the wine, and I need wine." As if on cue, Simon and Max came through the front door, Max bouncing into the room with a big grin on his face and a wild look in his eyes. "Did you give him sugar?!"

"_Don't _answer that just yet," Clary said warningly as she circled around the kitchen island and snatched the black bag from his hand, coming back into the kitchen and putting it down on the bench. Simon watched as Clary popped off the lid of the first bottle of wine and poured a large glass. She handed it to Isabelle, who kept drinking from it until the glass was empty and her cheeks were flushed pink. "You good?" Clary asked, scanning her over quickly.

"I'm good," Isabelle breathed.

"Okay, great," Clary clapped her hands together. "Simon, keep an eye on Max. Don't let him climb the curtains or get himself dirty. Izzy, you just need to relax and focus on cooking. You look amazing. And me, I'm gonna—" there was a loud knock at the door and Isabelle's eyes widened. "I'm going to get the door. Don't freak out, it won't be them. Since when are males on time?" Her words didn't sooth Isabelle, who quickly turned back to the stove. Clary made a face at Simon before going to the front door, opening it with a scowl on her face.

"Hey, babe," Sebastian greeted her with a half smirk. "How's it going?"

"We don't have plans tonight, Seb," Clary stated, the frown on her face not lifting.

"Aw, and I can't surprise my girl?" Sebastian asked, stepping closer, as though going in for a kiss.

"No," Clary replied, putting her hand on Sebastian's chest in an attempt to stop him. "No, you can't. And I don't know what gave you the impression that I'm you girl," she used the fingers of her other hand to create quotation marks in the air. Sebastian didn't look upset by her rebuttal and his hand came up to cover hers on his chest.

"Come on, babe. Let's go out to dinner," he urged, squeezing her hand lightly.

"I can't," Clary shook her head. "I've got something on tonight." Sebastian's hand tightened over hers and Clary could feel her resolution wavering slightly as his other hand came up to rest on her lower back. They had been sleeping together long enough for him to know what she liked. And there was something about her ass being touched that turned her on incredibly. His fingers spread apart and dipping further, massaging her ass through the jeans she was wearing.

"Not even for a couple of hours?" Sebastian pressured, his voice an octave lower. Clary chewed down on her lower lip as he tugged her a few steps closer to him, so that their bodies were pressed together, and he was tilting his head down to hers.

"I don't...Think so..." Clary's mumbled words were broken as Sebastian's mouth finally settled on hers. She let him kiss her, his hands pulling her body closer to him so that their bodies were moulded together. He bit down on her lower lip, and pushed her up against the door. Clary completely forgot that she was meant to be getting herself all tidied up for the dinner date Isabelle had forced her into before there was a subtle cough. Clary pulled away from Sebastian and looked over his shoulder, cringing when she saw Jace. Sebastian turned around and sized the man at the bottom of stairs up.

"Looks like you're finding a rich boy, Clare," Sebastian stated , the twist in his mouth meant to assure the other two that he was joking, but the look in his eyes saying the opposite.

"I told you that I had plans tonight," Clary said.

"Yeah, yeah," Sebastian took a couple of steps down, until he was on the bottom one, standing a couple of inches taller than Jace. "Didn't think you were into the big ol' wall street men," he sent another sneer at Jace, who was now full blown glaring at him.

"Okay, okay!" Clary took a few steps down so that she was next to Sebastian. She tugged at his arm and waited until her lover looked down at her. "You need to leave, Seb," she told him firmly. Sebastian's eyes slid back to Jace but she jerked at his arm again. "Seb," she said warningly.

"Sure thing, babe," he gave her a tight smile. "But you're coming over tonight, right?"

"Yes, yes, fine, whatever," she muttered, not looking to happy about it. "Just go." Sebastian turned to fully face her, his hands settling on her hips and jerking her into him for a wet kiss. When they pulled apart, he sent one last narrow eyes look at Jace before sauntering down the street. He passed Alec and his boyfriend getting out of the car and gave them dirty looks as he walked past.

"That's a real winner you've got there," Jace broke the uncomfortable silence and Clary just rolled her eyes. "Uh, anyway, we brought dessert!" He quickly changed the subject and held up the brown paper bag he was gave a thankful smile and took the bag from him, opening it and looking inside.

"Fuck, this smells good," her eyes widened.

"They're from this amazing little bakery that Izzy would always drag us to," Alec said from behind them. Clary looked over at him, and then her eyes widened as she saw the man beside him.

"Oh, shit," she muttered. Magnus barked out a laugh as he came to a stop in front of her.

"Barely recognized you with clothes on," Magnus smirked at her.

"Oh ha ha," Clary rolled her eyes even though her cheeks were slightly reddened. "Fucking hilarious."

"Good to know the attitude wasn't just part of the outfit," Magnus continued, grinning, not looking at all phased. His gaze quickly shifted when someone appeared in the doorway at the top of the stairs. Clary looked back to see Max there, who was looking down at the four of them.

"If you're subjecting Max to that disgusting PDA you and Seb put on—you're paying for his therapy later on in life!" Isabelle shouted from inside. An angelic smile broke out over Max's face as he grinned down cheekily at Clary.

"You're in trouble," he sung out.

"And _you're _immature," Clary replied, walking up the stairs and pointedly ruffled the boys hair. Max grumbled as she disappeared into the house and then looked at the three men.

"Uncle Alec," he greeted. "Jace," his eyes moved onto Magnus and he tilted his head to the side. "Mama said you're Alec's boyfriend." Jace, Alec and Magnus all nodded, waiting with bated breath for the boys reaction. He just shrugged and continued conversationally. "I think that's cool. I think boys are better than girls—except for mama and Rissa."

"Good save, pal," Isabelle laughed, appearing behind her son. "Go inside and keep an eye on Clary. I'm pretty sure she's trying to get into the dessert." Max was off running in an instant, and Jace snorted.

"Kind of looks like you when we were near that same bakery," he noted.

"Like mother, like son," she shrugged. "Anyway, Magnus—hey!" She grinned warmly at the man next to her brother.

"Hey," Magnus smiled widely up at her, bypassing Jace and Alec and giving him a tight hug. Isabelle's eyes widened in surprise but then she settled into the hug. "Your son is adorable."

"Yeah, yeah," Isabelle made a face. "When he wants to be. Anyway, come in, come in." She stepped aside and made room for the boys to walk past. Jace paused to wait for Alec, but the Lightwood siblings stopped to talk to each other, so he continued into the house to give them some privacy.

"This is Simon," Clary was saying to Magnus. "He's a family friend." Jace walked into the lounge just in time to see Simon give Clary a pained look at the introduction. He wondered what the reason behind that was—did the kid have a thing for Clary as well?

That would be interesting to know about, given her relationship with the pissed off looking blonde.

"Jace!" Clary and everyone else in the room was now looking at him and he realized that there was something he had missed.

"Oh, sorry," he blinked, his face relaxing into what he hoped was a charming smile.

"Jace, this is Simon," Clary nodded between them. Simon was a little bit shorter than Jace, but he met his gaze steadily, his eyes untrusting behind his glasses.

"I'm her brother," Simon said as he firmly shook his hand.

So that explained the look.

Protectiveness.

Jace could respect that.

"Are you guys ready to eat?" Isabelle called from where she was standing in the kitchen.

Dinner was a crowded affair. The girls only had a tiny circular table with mismatched chairs. They were all sitting so close that their elbow and knees kept knocking against one anothers. The vegetables were all cut into funny shapes, and some weren't cooked all the way through—Max announced proudly that he had helped his mama with those. Isabelle had done an amazing job with the lasagne; Alec and Jace had a hard time as seeing her as a girl who actually knew what to do in the kitchen. It was all washed down with a ten dollar bottle of wine that would never even be allowed in the same _building _as Jace.

It was the best meal he had had in his life.

Max dominated the conversation—going on about pretty much every topic under the sun. Isabelle handled the boy incredibly well, every few minutes giving him a look so that he wouldn't eat with his mouth full, or let someone else talk.

Clary and Simon easily talked over Isabelle and Max, and Magnus blended in well with their conversation. Jace was content to just listen to the chatter and eat. He couldn't remember the last time he was around so many people being so real.

They were all smiling and laughing—even Alec, who was always so tense and waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Max made funny faces and Clary made them back.

Isabelle and Simon said things quietly to each other and shared small, intimate smiles.

Magnus reached over to lay his hand on Alec's arm and no-one batted an eyelid.

Jace actually felt like he was part of a family, for once in his life, even if it was just a fleeting feeling.

After dinner, Isabelle sent Max upstairs to have a shower. She told him he could watch a cartoon downstairs with Simon and Alec afterward. Magnus gravitated toward the kitchen where the two girls were doing the dishes, and laughter could be heard from the lounge where Simon, Jace and Alec were standing. Simon and Alec managed to strike up an almost comically awkward conversation and Jace saw Clary disappear down the hallway. He left the two men in the lounge and followed after her. She walked down the hall and opened the back door, sitting down on the concrete steps.

"What's up?" He gave her a half smile.

"Hey," Clary glanced up at him before looking back down at her hands where she was getting a cigarette ready. She wasn't giving off any 'fuck off' vibes, so he sat down on the steps next to her, a few inches away. "Those doughnuts were amazeballs, by the way," Clary said after a few minutes of silence. Jace let himself smile fully and looked over at her.

"I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me," he stated.

"Well," Clary pulled thee cigarette out of her mouth and expelled a long rbeath of smoke. "I wasn't being nice to _you_, I was—"

"Nope!" Jace clapped his hand over her mouth. "Nope, let me savour this moment! It could be the one and only compliment I get from you!" Clary's eyes slid away from his face, but he could feel her lips curving upward against his palm.

He felt ridiculous for being _this _happy about making a pretty girl smile.

"I will actually burn you if you don't move your hand," Clary warned as she lifted her cigarette toward her mouth. He quickly dropped his hand and she smirked at him before taking a drag. After thinking for a second, she offered him a puff. He didn't hesitate before taking it, their fingers brushing in the exchange.

"So, Simon's your brother? You guys don't look all that similar," he noted, attempting to get a dialogue going between them.

"I have a brother," Clary replied. "His name is Jon, and he's kind of an asshole, I don't really see him that much. I lived with Simon and his parents for a while when I was younger—they treated me really well. Simon always looking out for me and called me his sister. He never really stopped, even when his parents sent me back." There was an ever so slight tinge of sadness to her voice, but she muffled it by taking in another suck of her cigarette. Jace was still watching her, taking in every minute detail that crossed her face. She let out a huff as she dropped the smoke and stubbed it out on the concrete. "I don't want your pity," she said abruptly, turning to him.

"What?! No, I—"

"You're staring at me like I'm a kicked puppy," Clary said bluntly, not looking happy.

"No, I'm not!" Jace's voice was firmer this time. "I'm staring at you like you're a kicked puppy who took on a lion and won." She raised an eyebrow at him and he knew that he was going to judged on his next few sentences. "You had a really...Different life to a lot of people and you've turned out well." She was still staring at him steadily and he was beginning to feel nervous. "You're amazing with Max, and Alec goes on about how you're the only thing that kept Izzy together over the years," he was babbling on now, which was completely unattractive, he knew. "You're all fiery and independent, but you're so sweet and caring when it comes to the people you love—" he was cut off as Clary's lips pressed against his.

It as only brief, lasting maybe five seconds, but he could still feel the pressure when she pulled away, and he could taste the sugar from the doughnuts and the bite from the cigarette smoke.

She looked as surprised as he was as they parted, the pair of them blinking at each other with wide eyes.

Clary was the one who broke the spell, getting up and quickly padding inside the house.

* * *

Sex had never been a big thing for her.

She had never really had a high opinion of it.

Either it was good, or it was bad, but most of the time, it was a release.

She had been screwing around with Sebastian for almost eighteen months now, and she honestly felt no closer to him than the first time they had fallen into bed...Or more accurately, fallen against the kitchen table in his apartment. Maybe now she knew that he preferred Thai takeout over Chinese, and that he had a thing for her in silk lingerie over lace.

But she didn't care about him.

And he didn't care about her.

And that had never mattered to her.

But for the first time that in her life, as Sebastian pounded into her, she felt a little empty at the pit of her stomach. As his tongue laved over her hardened nipples, she felt detached, and as though she couldn't properly enjoy it. He buried his finger in her ass up to the knuckle, and her mind floated back, a couple of hours ago, when she was sitting across from Jace and he had that smirk on his perfect mouth, and the wind was whipping his shaggy hair back...

Clary let out a groan as she lifted herself up on her elbows and flipped them over, straddling Sebastian and riding him until her thighs burned and her mind went blank.

_So? What do you think? There's lots of you guys following_—please _leave a review! They make me so happy to read, and all the hours behind my laptop worth it. _

_And I'll send you a preview, if you want one :)_


	9. Chapter 9

_Hey guys! *Waves guiltily* I'm still here, I promise. Are you guys still interested in this? This chapter gets a little sexy, if that helps to make it up to ya'll. I won't hold you up with a long authors note, on with the story! Any mistakes are my own..._

"Jace!" Valentine Morgenstern shouted out as Jace pulled up outside the garage. Jace lifted his hand in a short wave before getting out of his car and looking forward, to where Jordan was walking off in front of him. His phone was vibrating in his pocket and he pulled it out and pressed answer without even looking at the caller ID.

"Speaking with Jace," he said gruffly.

"Baby!" Kaelie called down the phone. "Where are you?"

"Uh, I'm..." Jace looked around himself out of instinct, even though he knew that there was no way she would know where she was. "I'm just out with a couple of the boys."

"Okay, well, when are you going to be back?"

"Did we have plans tonight or something?" Jace asked, wondering why she was badgering him.

"I was just thinking that you and me can go out for dinner, and then go back to your apartment?" Kaelie continued and Jace rolled his eyes. He took in a deep breath and nodded.

"Yeah, sure, that sounds great," he told her, hoping that he sounded enthusiastic. "I will pick you up around six."

"Sounds great!" She made a kissing noise down the phone and then ended the call. As Jace put his phone away, he turned around and was surprised when he saw Valentine standing right there.

"Oh, hey," he gave him a tight smile.

"Jace," Valentine nodded. "Thank you for doing this, I hear you've been doing quite a few jobs with Jordan and his crew lately."

"Um, I don't think any more than I used to be doing," he shrugged.

"Well, they tell me you've been quite invaluable," Valentine nodded. "I just wanted you to know that I appreciate it." He held out his hand, with a wad a of notes in his palm, and Jace lifted his own hand to slap it into a handshake, the money exchanging hands. "And if you want to be more involved, I've always got room for another loyal man in the ranks."

"Thanks," Jace slipped the money into his front pocket. "I'm pretty pressed for time with involvement in my family business and also with my fiancée."

"Ah right," Valentine said. "Any children?" Jace snorted in surprise and shook his head.

"Oh, God no, nothing like that," he quickly said, letting out a laugh.

"Don't dismiss it so quickly," Valentine answered. "Kids are amazing. I mean, they can be fucking terrible at times, but they make up for it." The older man looked over his shoulder and back toward the garage, where someone who looked quite similar to him was talking to Jordan. "That's my son, Jonathon. He's my eldest. And I've got a daughter, although I haven't seen her in years."

"Why's that?" Jace asked. There was a pained look on Valentine's face and Jace quickly backtracked. "Sorry, it's not like it's any of my business."

"She's a few years younger than Jon, and she was put into the foster system. Jon was as well, but he turned sixteen soon after and came back to live with me. She doesn't really, uh," Valentine rolled his eyes and gave a quick smirk. "She doesn't really approve of what I do here." Jace wasn't too sure what he was meant to say to that, because technically, he understood exactly _why _his daughter didn't approve, but then he wasn't going to say that to the intimidating man who made a living out of stealing and reselling cars to low lives. Valentine seemed to know exactly what the silence meant and he let out a laugh. "Oh, I'm not saying that she should approve. I _like _the fact she's strong enough to stand up to a man that not many other people will—she reminds me of her mother."

"Sounds like a great woman," Jace said lamely, not sure what else he was meant to say to that.

"Jace! You ready to head out, man?!" Jordan called as he came back out of the garage.

"Yeah, yeah, whenever you're ready," Jace nodded. Jordan came closer, only a couple of feet away from them now.

"I'm ready now," Jordan said. Valentine nodded and looked between the two boys.

"Alright, well, we'll see you boys next time around," Valentine said. The boys repeated the sentiment before getting into Jace's Honda. They were quiet as Jace turned on the engine and pulled out of the autobody garage. They were two blocks over before Jordan spoke up.

"Do you think you could just drop me off on the corner of the next block?" He asked.

"Yeah, sure," Jace nodded, without even thinking. It wasn't until he was indicating to pull over that he realized where they were. "You know someone who works here or you just here for the scenery?" He joked lightly as he realized that they were outside a strip club. As in, the strip club that Clary worked at.

"You know that girl from the other night?"

"Mia?"

"Maia," Jordan corrected. "Yeah. She works there." Jace's hands clenched around the steering wheel as he slowed the car right down until he was at a stop. Jordan put his hand on the door handle but paused before getting out. "Didn't you know that red head that she was with? I'm pretty sure she works here too?"

"Yeah, she does," Jace swallowed hard at the thought of seeing Clary again.

"Did you want to come in?" Jordan asked with a grin. "She was pretty hot. I'd want to see her if she was on stage." Jace was tempted but he shook his head.

"I honestly don't think that's a good idea," he said. Jordan was still looking at him, an interested expression on his face. Jace would never talk about this with Alec, given Alec's relationship with Clary, he also couldn't talk about this with Kaelie, for obvious reasons, and then he didn't really have anyone else. There were some men who he hung around with from their society circles, and then there was Magnus, but it's not like they were good friends, and he didn't really have anyone else. "We kissed, the other night. But, well, I'm engaged, so it _really_ can't happen."

"You're _engaged_?" Jordan raised an eyebrow in disbelief. Jace let out a laugh and shook his head.

"We really know nothing about each other," he grinned.

"Well, I guess we only see each other when we're stealing cars," Jordan admitted with a shrug. "So why don't we get to know each other a little, aye? Have a few drinks and look at some pretty girls?" Jace started shaking his head but then he paused and looked back over at Jordan, who was watching him with a raised eyebrow. "I can see you want to," Jordan laughed and opened his door. "Let's go, man!"

"Okay, okay," Jace grinned. He turned off the car and got out, walking around to join Jordan on the other side of the car. "Just a few drinks. I've got a dinner date tonight."

"Ooh, sounds fancy," Jordan taunted as they reached the doors to go into the club. "With this fiancée that I've never heard of?"

"Yes, that's the one," Jace nodded. The doors opened and there was an instant smell of stale cigarette smoke, beer and cheap perfume. The music was pumping from closer to the stage, and they were stopped by the bouncer from continuing down the hallway, holding out his hand for their entrance fee. Jace's wallet was already in his hand and giving out a couple of notes to cover both his and Jordan's fee.

"Oh, thanks, bro," Jordan said. "First beer is on me, then."

"Sounds good," Jace nodded as they continued down the hallway. Once they reached the end, and it opened out fully into the club, Jace couldn't help looking straight toward the stage. There were two girls up there, dancing with only thongs on, but neither of them had red hair. "Your girl up there?" He asked Jordan as they walked toward the bar.

"Yeah, she's the one in silver," Jordan said with a grin as Jace turned his eyes back to the stage to have a look at the girl who was on the far side of the stage. She had a striking face, maybe not the typically pretty, but she had a tight, taunt body that would turn heads. "And she's not technically 'my girl'." They reached the bar and waited for the girl wearing a black bikini type thing that had straps winding down her back and stomach to finish with an older man down the other end. She was facing the other way, but from what Jace could see, the girl had a nice ass.

"Do you want her to be your girl?" Jace asked, sitting down at a booth and resting an elbow on the sticky counter top. Jordan let out a short laugh and nodded.

"Yeah. Yeah, I do," he said.

"Never really thought of you like a relationship kind of guy," Jace admitted.

"Well, turns out we were both wrong about each other," Jordan said with a grin. "I didn't think that of you either. I thought you were more the kind of...Oh, I don't know. I know you're rich, despite the fact you try to hide it. And I know that you don't need to run these jobs like we do, to get by."

"How do you figure that?" Jace asked, tilting his head to the side.

"I was a Cambridge boy," Jordan made a face. "When I was seventeen, I was over it, and so I left. My family cut me off and I had nothing for a while," he shrugged. "Pulled myself together, had some friends that my parents didn't 'approve of' that I shacked up with. And now I'm here. I'm happy with where my life has gone." Jace was surprised, but he guessed it made sense. Some of the things that Jordan had said to him and the way he talked, there was an educated tinge to it.

"What can I get you boys?" The bartender came over to them and then faltered and Jace couldn't help but let out an almost horrified laugh.

"Izzy!"

"Wait, you've got two chicks here?" Jordan asked, shooting Jace an approving look. Isabelle turned her narrow eyed look to Jordan, and the boy wisely diverted his eyes and dropped his smile. "Uh, can I just get two fingers of bourbon? And whatever he's having." Isabelle glared back at Jace.

"I'll, uh," Jace grinned and dropped his eyes, wiping his hand over his nose. "I'll have the same."

"Right," Isabelle growled, spinning around and walking over to the shelf that held bottles of liquor. Jordan sent him a wide eyed look and Jace quickly shook his head, indicating it wouldn't be a good idea for him to talk right now. She came back to them, sliding their drinks over the counter and ignoring the couple of notes that Jordan was holding out. "What are you doing here, Jace?"

"Would you believe that it was a coincidence?" He attempted a smile but the resting bitch face never changed.

"Nope," Isabelle shook her head. "You know that this is where we work, given you saw Clary here and came back to our place. So what are you doing here?"

"This girl I'm seeing works here," Jordan piped up and Jace as glad as Isabelle's eyes shifted over to the other boy. She pursed her lips as she looked at him and Jordan nodded over to the stage. "Maia," he said. She seemed to relax but then she glared over at Jace again.

"Clary is on in half an hour, just after four," she warned him. "If she see's you, I'd be careful."

"She's danced for me before," he smirked, but he knew that he was treading on dangerous waters. Isabelle just shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Well," there was a strange look on her face, and Jace realized that it was the same one that she got when she was looking at Max. "If you get drunk with your buddy here, don't drive home. You know where we live and I'll give you my number." Jace was surprised at the turn of events as he handed over his phone. She put her number in and then gave it back, rolling her eyes again at his surprised expression. "Don't look at me like that, Wayland. I'm a mother now. I actually _care _what happens to people."

"You're too kind," Jace teased her, but was glad for the turn of events. Two more men came over to the counter, both of them leering at Isabelle, and she walked over to serve them. Jace couldn't stop the curl of his upper lip, not liking that way the men were looking her up and down. He knew that was the point of this place, but Isabelle was like a sister to him. He could appreciate how good looking she was, although he was averting his eyes now.

"I wish my mum looked like her," Jordan muttered with a smirk and Jace just huffed under his breath. "Shit, so how many girls do you know in here?"

"Well, Isabelle's kind of a long story," Jace said. "I've known her all my life. She's the younger sister of one of my best friends. So she's kind of like a sister to me." Jordan pursed his lips and tilted his head to the side as he looked down the bar to where Isabelle was smiling at one of the other girls, who was dressed in only a silver thong.

"I'm sorry to say it, man, but if my sister looked like that—I'd bang her," Jordan laughed. Jace couldn't help but laugh as well. He liked Jordan. He really hadn't had much to do with him at all outside of their 'work' and he was beginning to regret that now. One drink turned into two, and then Maia was on a break, so she came over to hang out with the two boys—clothes on when she did so. She seemed like a cool chick, and she was clearly into Jordan, just like he was into her. Maia's break was only a short one, and then she was back at work, this time serving drinks in one of the skimpiest bikini's of all time, a fake smile plastered on her face as she sashayed around.

"Be nice," Isabelle said as she came over to Jace. She was fully dressed in jeans and a thick jersey, her bag slung over her shoulder, and she stopped by the two boys on her way out.

"You off?" Jace asked.

"Yup. I'm gonna go pick up Max and head home. Clary is here now, getting ready," Isabelle said. "_Be nice_," she repeated to him.

"I'm always nice," Jace smirked at her and Isabelle just rolled her eyes. She leaned forward to give him a quick kiss on the cheek before heading out of the club. As soon as she was out of the club, his eyes snapped straight to the door on the other end of the club, to the door which lead to the private rooms and also the changing area for employees. His eyes never left until a red head came out, her hair straightened down her back and make up caked on her face, and wearing stacked heels. She had on this dress that seemed like it was entirely pieced together with scraps of lace and bows, and it made Jace's mouth water.

"Engaged, huh?" Jordan leaned in close to him and murmured. Jace shook his head and tried to laugh it off but the laugh stuck in his throat. The club was getting busier, more people coming in, probably just finishing work, and there were more girls starting. Jace couldn't keep his eyes off Clary, who was serving drinks. She had seen him, and looked as though she was pointedly ignoring him as she swayed around the large club, leaning over so that her cleavage spilled forward and her perky ass stuck out, and

"Hey, baby," a girl with blonde hair almost down to her ass sidled up to Jace, running her finger down his arm and fixing him with a sultry smile. "You want a private show?" Her hand trailed back up up his arm and over his chest, dipping down to his upper thigh and pointedly inching closer to his lap. "We only charge a little extra if you want the happy ending," she added with a smirk. Jace let out a nervous laugh, looking across to Jordan who was just grinning and watching him.

"Uh, I'm okay," Jace told her. Her hand was carressing closer to the zipper of his jeans when she paused and he followed her gaze. Clary was standing a few feet away from him, her eyes fixed in a glare on the blonde.

"Maybe he just doesn't like bottle blondes," she said, with a half smirk that was directed at Jace. He rolled his eyes, but the smile that spread across his face was genuine. "So? What of it?" She licked her tongue over her lower lip in a way that made Jace's cock shift in his jeans. "You want a red head to give you a dance?" Jace's mouth was dry and he had no idea what he was meant to say. But then Jordan was stepping up, pulling out his wallet and slapping a few notes into her hand.

"He'll take a dance," Jordan said, all flashing teeth and grins as Clary accepted the money rom him. "And he'll take a dance in one of the private rooms." Jace opened his mouth to disagree, but Clary was already reaching out for his hand, pulling him off his booth and leading him pointedly toward the hallway. Once they reached a room, and she was giving the money for safe keeping to the bouncer, Jace finally managed to find his voice.

"Clary, wait, no," he tried to assure her. "This is fine. You can keep the money, Jordan was just kidding around. It's totally fine; we don't have to do this."

"Are you a virgin or something, Blondie?" Clary raised her eyebrow at the bouncer, who was opening the door for them and exchanged a grin with Clary.

"No!" Jace spat out at her, looking indignant.

"Then what's your problem?" She asked, and suddenly, the noise from the club was all being blocked out, and they were in a room by themselves. It all became so much more real, the long, black couch that stretched out against the back wall, and a seat in the centre of the room, a pole a few feet in front of it. There were speakers in each corner, and a moment later, a song with a sultry beat began. Jace swallowed hard as he looked down at Clary, who was only a little bit shorter that him now, given the heels that she was wearing. She was still holding his hand and her thumb started to massage the back of it softly. His whole body felt the carress, and she tilted her head to the side, her long hair falling over one shoulder, batting her eyelashes up at him in a practiced way that struck a chord deep inside of him.

Just the simple stroke of her thumb against his hand was making his whole body go on alert, a thundering in his ears.

"There's no problem," Jace managed to choke out, answering her previous question. Clary smiled and her hand left his, going to his chest, pushing on it to force him to take a couple of steps backward until he was sitting on the seat in the middle of the room. For a moment he thought that she was going to sit down on his lap, but she took a few steps back, her hand reaching up behind her to snake around the pole.

She was entrancing.

There wasn't really any other way to explain it.

Jace couldn't take his eyes off her as she writhed against the pole, the dim lighting of the room playing off her smooth body. Most of the time she was facing him, her eyes half closed and her lips parted in this incredible 'O' shape that was making him clench his hands into fists. She did this elegant little skip that gained her enough momentum to swing both legs around the pole, and she ground her centre against the hard metal, which made Jace bite down hard on his lower lip.

He was so hard that he was aching in his pants by the time she actually took a few steps closer to him. She was still wearing the excuse of a dress that she had been in before, and he was glad, because he had a feeling that if she untied the dress and let it fall away, he was going to explode right then and there and slam her against the wall. Clary leaned in close to him, her lips brushing against his ear, her teeth brushing against the shell, and he couldn't stop his eyes from involuntarily closing. Her hand ran through his hair, fingernails scraping against his scalp, before she was sitting on his lap. He let out a gasp, his whole body stiffening, and he knew that he saw heat in her green eyes when she felt his arousal through his jeans. She ran her tongue alone her lower lip, probably in a way that she had done a hundred times before, but there was a skip in her breath as his hips jerked upwards and his covered cock rutted against her centre. Her movements got slightly sloppy as she ground into him, her hand tightening around the back of his neck, bringing their foreheads together.

Jace couldn't believe that this was happening.

His breathing was laboured as her breath ghosted his lips.

It was a physical _fight _with himself that stopped him for reaching out for her mouth, for those lips that he had already touched twice, and just wanted to taste again. But he already knew that if he kissed her again, he wasn't going to be able to stop himself. He would need to force her lips apart and fight with her tongue, and pull at her long hair, and rip at anything that was keeping her body hidden from him. And then he would send her floating into the oblivion of an orgasm with his fingers, and his mouth, and his cock, and—

There was a rap at the door that pulled them both out of their trance, which was when Jace knew that it wasn't just him who was feeling that way. There was a second knock, letting them know that their time was up.

Clary pulled off his lap, blinking at him, her plucked eyebrows pulled together as she stared down at him. His eyes never left her as she backed toward the door, quickly disappearing through and closing the door behind her. He swallowed hard and looked down at his cock, which was so hard that it was painful.

"Fuck," he growled.

_Hit me with a review? Pretty please? I'll love you forever and ever. And I'll give you a preview :) Also, I'll just let you know I will be going on a break over Christmas because leading up to it I've got a bunch of training at work and then I've got the actual holidays where I'm booked right up. I'm not too sure when this break is going to start, so I might update once more before then, but just a heads up in case there's a bit of a delay between the next post. _

_Love you all x_

_(By the way, have you all heard _Waiting for a Superman _by Daughtry? I'm kind of in love.)_

_(LOL and also _Don't Deserve You _by Plumb? Totally amazing.)_


	10. Chapter 10

_Okay! So the original plan was to not update until next year. But the thing is; _of course _I kept on writing, but I was just focussing on a bunch of prompts and ideas that I've had written down for quite some time. And now I've ended up with an overloaded documents folder and also a bunch of personal messages and reviews asking for a speedy update, so here we go! I'm updating now, and will resume normal updating from the 01/02/2016. I hope you guys had an amazing Christmas, and have an incredible New Year! On with the story, and I apologize for any mistakes made;_

Jace drove around for hours.

At first, it was because he was so insanely hard in his pants that it took him almost forty-five minutes before he had himself under control. He wasn't going to lower himself to getting off in the private room or in the bathroom, but if he didn't focus on something else, he was going to explode without even _needing_ to touch himself. When he walked back through the main room of the strip club, his gait had been stiff, his hands clenched at his sides. Jordan had called out to him, but Jace had just shook his head and stormed out to his car.

And then for the rest of the time...The rest of the time he was just completely lost in his head.

Completely lost in his head thinking about Clary.

It was ridiculous.

He felt like he was a teenager again, except he had never been a stupid, love struck teenager.

No.

Clearly that was hitting him later in life.

When he was _fucking engaged_.

Jace turned his radio all the way up, Breathe Carolina pouring out of the speakers, blasting in his ears and helping to drown out the messy thoughts. It wasn't really working, but it was helping. It was almost eleven by the time he pulled into the underground parking lot of his apartment building. He sat for a few minutes in his car, before grabbing his wallet, phone and keys, before he got out and walked to the lift. He took it all the way to the pent house, pinching at the bridge of his nose as he trudged into the apartment. He dropped the his things on the glass table as he walked into the kitchen, not bothering to turn on the lights as he opened the fridge and stared inside.

He hadn't realized how hungry he was until he saw that there was literally _nothing _in his cupboards. He walked over to where the landline was and picked it up, dialling one for reception.

"Mr Wayland," the woman at the reception desk answered.

"Can I get a burger? Just whatever is there. I just want a burger and chips," he told her.

"Of course, we will have it up there within ten minutes," she replied.

"Thank you," he hung up the call. He rubbed a hand over his face and then frowned when he heard a noise. He looked over to the doorway and let out a growl when he saw a pissed off Kaelie standing there, wearing a tight dress that showed more skin than it hid. She was wearing a hell of a lot of make up, even for her, and her hair was all pinned up. Then he remembered they had a dinner date and he blinked, letting out a sigh. "Oh shit. We had plans for dinner."

"Yeah, we did," Kaelie snapped at him. "Where the fuck have you been?!"

"I'm so sorry, I got caught up," Jace took a step closer to her, reaching out to touch her but she took a step back, her eyes narrowed. "Look, I totally forgot. I'm _sorry_."

"What were you doing?" She snipped at him. "Where have you _been_? I've been waiting here for ages, you never came back."

"I've just been...Around. With friends," he knew that it sounded stupid. "I was driving around," he shrugged. Kaelie was still glaring at him as she stepped closer to him, her spiked heels clicking on the ground as she walked around him. He felt like he was under investigation as she circled him and then stopped, crossing her arms tightly over chest.

"You smell like a fucking strip club," she growled at him.

"We went to a strip club," he nodded. Kaelie let out a sarcastic snort.

"Great. You blew me off for a couple of slut," she spat. "What, they better at sucking your cock than me? How classy, Jace. Just like every other rich kid around here, thinking that you're being so original by hanging out around the whore house—"

"Hey!" He told her sharply, putting his hand up to stop her rant. "I have _never _cheated on you! And you know that!"

"Oh, do I now?!"

"Yes," his voice was firm and his eyes sharp. "You do." Kaelie pursed her lips together as she glared at him, but from the way she wasn't replying, he knew that she wasn't going to argue. That was one thing that he never did, and never would do. He wasn't like that, and she knew it. What had happened when he found out about the yoga instructor for the first time had proved it. He had been horrified, and he had threatened to break their whole engagement off, and she had actually had to run to her father and have him call Stephen and Jace.

Jace wasn't naïve.

He had been in this life long enough to know that under all the sparkles and the glitter, things were honestly pretty dirty.

But cheating was something he had watched destroy the most important woman in his life through his whole childhood, and he had always told himself that he would never be with someone who did that. Now, he was going against that, but he would never stoop himself to the level where _he_ was the one doing the cheating.

Kaelie knew that.

"I guess we can just order in," she finally mumbled her breath.

"I ordered a burger," Jace said shortly. "What do you want?"

"I'll just get a salad," she told him before turning around and walking into the lounge. She turned on the lights and picked up the multi-purpose remote, tapping a few buttons so that the curtains drew and shut out the city. Jace rang the reception back, ordering Kaelie's dinner and then joining her in the lounge. She was stonily staring at the blank plasma screen on the opposite wall, her hands folded on her lap. Jace sighed and sat down next to her, loosely wrapping his arm around her waist.

He kind of did feel guilty.

No, he hadn't cheated. But, well...God, he was close. And he guessed if he really thought about it, he and Clary had technically kissed twice now. But the first time had been an accident and the second time, she had kissed him first, and he had barely had time to process it, muchless respond, before she was pulling away. And then, _had _also stood Kaelie up tonight, and she had sounded pretty excited about it on the phone.

"Was there something that you wanted to talk about at dinner?" Jace asked, his voice a little softer this time. She didn't say anything, so he tightened his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to his side, so that she was moulding herself against his torso. He was about to ask again when there was a ping from the elevator. "That will be dinner," he said, getting up from the couch and walking over to where one of the staff was pushing a tray on wheels. Jace gave the man a nod and a smile, tipping him with one of the notes in his wallet before picking up the plates and walking over to Kaelie. She took it from him, not looking at him when she put it down on the table and leaned back and crossed her arms over chest.

"I wanted to talk to you about our wedding," Kaelie said bluntly as Jace took a bite out of his burger. He froze, his eyes darting over to her before he chewed a few times and then swallowed, putting the burger back down and looking at her.

"Our wedding?" He repeated back to her, hoping that his words didn't sound as choked coming out as they felt in his throat.

"Yeah, our wedding," she pursed her lips. "It generally comes after an engagement."

"Right," Jace rolled his eyes as he picked up two chips and shoved them into his mouth. "So we go from accusing me of fucking a stripper to talking about our wedding. A natural progression of conversation." Kaelie gave him a hard look and he just sighed, taking another bite of his burger and swallowing before nodding. "What about our wedding?"

"When is it?" She asked. He almost choked again on his food. Kaelie made an exasperated noise and got up from the couch, storming into his bedroom. Jace let out another long sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose and shaking his head. He really just _didn't _want to deal with this right now. He wanted to eat his burger, and throw back a couple of shots of bourbon and then crash out in bed, preferably falling into a dreamless sleep, but undoubtedly falling into a broken nap filled with a specific red head and flimsy dresses.

Instead, he ate a couple more chips and then wiped his hands on his jeans and then followed after Kaelie. He blinked when he saw her on the bed.

"Come on," she purred. Jace looked her up and down, his face impassive. She was wearing a rose coloured pair of panties and bra, that were sexy, but somehow just weren't doing it for him right now. Maybe it had to do with everything that had happened in the past twenty minutes, and how it seemed as though her split personalities were running even more rampant than usual.

First she was accusing him of cheating. And then she wanted to discuss their wedding, which had only ever been brought up twice before and successfully avoided. And now she was trying to get it all on with him?

He couldn't keep up.

"Baby?" Kaelie tilted her head to the side, her lips pursed in a pout, one hand braced behind her to keep her body propped upwards, while the other trailed down her neck and then chest, cupping her breast through her bra before continuing towards her pussy. Jace followed her hand down, watching as she pushed the crotch of her panties to the side and slid two fingers inside of herself.

It was all for show.

She wasn't enjoying it, her eyes weren't in the game, and that meant it really didn't hold much sway with him. It was like watching porn—completely impersonal.

Good enough to settle for if you needed something to get off to because you were frustrated about something else.

Jace's mind flickered back to Clary. Her fierce green eyes, her bouncy red curls, her perfect curves...His cock was hardening in his pants already. Kaelie let out a lewd moan as she put her fingers in her mouth, making a big show of sucking them and running her tongue over the digits. He thought about the way Clary had held onto the pole, arching her back so that her long hair fell backwards, her breasts pushing upward and her long legs curving. Kaelie let out a breathy moan, pushing her fingers back inside of her. He remembered Clary on his lap, the way her eyes were locked on his, so dark with lust that he knew it wasn't all about the stupid dance she was pretending it was about.

He remembered the way her breath felt on his mouth as she rolled her hips against his, her nose bumping against his once or twice...He was hard. He was throbbing again, the arousal from earlier rushing back over him.

Kaelie gave him a predatory smile, clearly thinking the erection was for her, as he pulled off his pants and climbed on the bed with her. She slid down so that she was laying underneath him. He didn't even pause, finding a condom in his bedside table and pulling it on, and then pushing into her. She let out a groan that was all for the dramatic effect, arching her back and resting her hands on his shoulders.

"Come on, baby," she moaned to him as he pushed into her. He forced himself to look at her, but she had her eyes closed, so he settled for staring at the wooden bed frame, thinking back to the red head that was stealing every conscious thought he had.

* * *

What the fuck was going on with her?

What the fuck was _she thinking_?

Clary sighed as she threw off her clothes and kicked them to the corner of her room. It was almost two, and she was done with work, _finally_. Which meant she finally had time to settle herself down after the dance she had experienced right at the beginning of her shift. She didn't know what had inspired her impromptu lap dance—scratch that, she sighed under her breath as she walked across the hall and turned on the shower. She knew _exactly_ what it was that had inspired the dance.

She hated the idea of Tammy-Lynn taking him into a private room and giving him a dance. She knew that for the dancer herself, there was nothing personal there, and Jace was engaged and it was probably just a bit of fun, but she felt a flare of jealousy in the pit of her stomach and she had reacted.

God...He had been so hard. When she had straddled his lap, she had felt her movements get slightly out of sync as she rolled herself against him, and she was surprised by the lick of heat that had travelled over her skin. She was one of the few girls at the club who _didn't _give a happy ending, but she had considered it. The only thing that had snapped her back to reality when the bouncer had knocked on the door to let them know that their time was up.

Clary stepped under the shower, letting the hot water sluice away the thick layer of make up, sweat and cheap dusting of glitter from the day. She had her hair tied back in a high bun to stop it from getting wet, and she tipped her face back under the water, sighing as her tired muscles began to relax.

She was being an idiot.

She had a _stupid friggin' crush_.

She had never had a crush!

Never!

And now she had something for her room mates childhood friend who was completely unattainable. Sure, he was clearly _physically_ attracted to her, but he was a guy. She had danced on top of him, pretty much naked, and he had gotten hard for her. That was to be expected.

Once she finished off her shower, she brushed her teeth and quietly walked back over to her bedroom. Isabelle and Max were both asleep, their doors shut, so she kept her footsteps light on the wooden floor. She pulled a shirt over her head and a pair of underwear and slipped into bed. Usually when she got home, her body was completely ready to go to sleep, especially when she worked these kinds of shifts, but her thoughts kept finding their way back to Jace, and his heated golden eyes and the way his lips had felt against hers.

Clary sighed, reaching down to the bottom drawer of her bedside table, pulling out her vibrator and slipping it between her legs.

* * *

Jace was out of bed and in the shower before Kaelie woke up. When he came back into the room, Kaelie was blinking up at him, rubbing her hands in her eyes as she sat up. Jace gave her a quick smile as he dressed, pulling a suit out of his closet. He buttoned up a light purple shirt, tucking it into his black pants and then sliding the tailored jacket over top, buttoning up the sleeves.

"Where are you going?" She asked him.

"I've gotta go in to work today. There's a meeting, and then we've got lunch with a bunch of investors," Jace replied as he walked over to the mirror that was mounted behind his door. He pulled a tie on, adjusting it around his neck and then tying it in a knot. "Did you want to do dinner tonight? As in proper dinner, not room service."

"No," Kaelie shook her head, sliding out of bed and walking over to him, completely naked and unabashed as she stood in front of him, running her hands over his shoulders and down his arms. "I've got plans tonight. With the girls." Jace shrugged, not particularly caring. "But we should definitely talk soon. About our wedding." There she was, referencing the dreaded day again. Jace pursed his lips and forced a nod.

"Flick me a text when you're free," he told her, leaning down to give her a quick kiss on the cheek. Kaelie smiled and then dropped to her knees, pulling at the button and zipper of his suit pants. "Oh, Kaelie...Baby, I'm going to be late—" he attempted to protest, but then her mouth was surrounding his limp cock, and her hand was massaging his sac. Jace looked down at the blonde head that was bobbing up and down, and his cock was already hardening from the suction. His body began to relax into her as she worked her mouth over him. Her tongue slid up and down his arousal, tightening her fingers around his balls. It took a little bit longer than usual, but then he was spilling down her throat, and she awkwardly swallowed, making a little choking noise before pulling back and wiping her mouth.

"I'll see you later," she murmured up to him and he gave her a kiss to the forehead before pulling himself together and leaving the apartment. He wasn't actually the one driving to work today, he was getting a ride with the sons of one of his fathers partners in the hotel business, Mark Blackthorn, who Jace had gone to school with. He took the elevator to the ground floor and walked out the front door, his hands in the pockets of expensive pants and nodded at the doorman. He saw the flashy convertible parked right outside and walked over, slipping inside.

"Hey, man," Mark shot a smirk over at him before he pulled away from the curb, not showing any regard for the traffic.

"How's it going?" Jace nodded at him.

"Not bad, not bad," Mark shifted gears as he ran a light that had just turned red. "How's that smoking hot fiancée of yours?" Jace forced out a laugh.

"Still sexy and still demanding," he replied and Mark laughed in response.

"But that's what they're all like, right?" Mark said.

"Yeah, I guess so," Jace rubbed his hand over his eyes and leaned back against his head rest. Mark had always sort of just been around. They had always run in the same sort of circles, but Jace had never been particularly close to him. He was a bit brash, and he didn't treat woman well, which was something that Jace didn't like, but he was good to get the occasional drink with.

"Do you know where the lunch is?" Mark asked.

"I'm not sure," Jace shrugged. "Wherever the investors want to go. So probably somewhere fucking expensive that can be charged to the company."

"Damn," Mark hissed through his teeth. "I really want a cheeseburger." Jace laughed as he looked over at Mark, who just shrugged.

"I'm sure they'll have a cheeseburger on the menu," he said.

"Yeah, but it'll be some fancy cheeseburger, all deconstructed and put back together with all these weird ass lettuce's and cheeses," Mark screwed up his nose. "I'm so not down for that." Jace laughed again as they reached the biggest hotel in the company, which was centred almost directly in the middle of the city. It was fifty-seven floors of lush carpet, expensive furniture and elegant woodwork. Two of those floors were meeting rooms, one of them reserved exclusively for any business that Stephen and his business partners.

"Hey, Walter," Jace grinned at the valet as they pulled up outside the front door. Walter nodded back at him with a smile, which quickly dropped off his face as Mark got out of the car and came around to the other side of the car, to the sidewalk. Mark didn't even give Walter a second look as he tossed his keys in the general direction of the valet, sending the older man scrambling to make sure he caught them. Jace gave him a sympathetic look before following Mark into the house.

"Fortieth floor?" Mark asked as they walked easily through the lobby.

"Yeah, I think so," Jace said. There were two elevators, and Jace pulled out his swipe key from his wallet to override the second one, bringing it directly down to the ground floor, not stopping for anyone along the way who might've pressed the button. They stepped inside and Jace once again swiped his card pushed his finger to the floor they were going to. When the door slid open, Stephen was already there, with a couple of his other partners, including Mark's father.

The meeting didn't properly start until almost eleven, and by then, Jace was restless. He hated all of the banter that was required before they actually _started _business, because it was always the same between theese men. Pretty much dick measuring; who had the youngest wife, who had the biggest holiday home, who had the most mistresses. The actual business side of things, _that _interested him. He was good with that. He liked numbers and he liked fitting pieces together, and making sure things were working at the best capacity.

It was just after one before they all headed out for lunch, taking one of Stephen's town cars—more like a limo—over.

The lunch was pretty much a replay of the conversations that had gone on before the meeting had started, and he was bored stiff before they even got around to starting on their main meal. He was on his second bourbon when his phone vibrated in his pocket. He ignored it for a while, thinking that it was probably Kaelie, but somewhere in the middle of his father talking about a run in with his secretary, he looked down at his phone. It was Isabelle, which made him smile in surprise.

_You didn't come by last night. Hope you didn't drive drunk_.

Jace's eyes raised in surprise. But then, did he really think that Clary had gone home and told Isabelle that she had given her childhood friend a dirty dance?

_I was fine. Got home around midnight._

The reply was pretty quick.

_I meant what I said. You know where we live._

She sent another one quickly, before he had a chance to answer.

_I like having you back in my life, Jace. And Max and Clary like you as well._

"That your girl?" Mark asked, leaning over to look at his phone, clearly as bored with the lunch conversation as he was.

"Uh, no," Jace shook his head. "Isabelle. Isabelle Lightwood? She's Alec's younger sister. You might remember her—"

"Yeah, yeah," Mark raised his eyebrows. "She was pretty hot; long legged and shit. Disappeared a while ago, right?"

"She moved, yeah," Jace nodded.

"Didn't know you guys were still in touch," Mark said as he picked up his whiskey glass. "How's she doing?"

"She's good."

"She has a kid, right?" Mark continued and Jace paused as he looked across at the other man.

"Ye-ah," he dragged the word out. "How did you know that?"

"It gets around," Mark shrugged.

"Hey, boys," Stephen looked over at the pair of them warningly. Clearly their disinterest in the conversation at hand had been noticed. Jace shoved his phone back into his pocket and straightened up in his seat, clenching his hand around his tumbler and forcing himself to turn his attention back to the table.

_Let me know what you guys think! I love your feedback, and I'll give you a preview. Also let me know if there's anything in particular that you'd like me to work into the story and I'll see what I can do xx_


	11. Chapter 11

_Hey guys! I'm back! Hope you all had an amazing New Years and Christmas. I've updated my profile, so my updating schedule is on there if you want to go over there and check it out. On with the story!_

"Rissa! Riiii-ssaaaa!" Max was dragging out her name and Clary opened one eye to look at the little boy, who was staring at her from behind the frames of his glasses, his wavy, brown hair adorably tousled from sleep. "We're going to the movies today!" Clary groaned and tried to bury her head back under her pillow, but now that he had seen she was awake, he wasn't giving up. "Aunty Rissa!" Max gripped her forearm and shook her lightly. "You gotta wake up!"

"Little dude," Clary said, her voice muffled by the fact her face was pushed into her mattress. "I want to sleep."

"But mama says we can't go until you're awake! And you're awake now!" Max sounded petulant, and Clary couldn't stop the smile that spread over her face as she imagined the boy beside her bed with an angelic pout on his face. Max started to jab his little fingers into her arms and she let out a long moan. She turned her head to the side to look at him, and then made a face.

"You're still wearing your pyjamas! You can't go see the new Star Wars movie when you're in pjyamas! What kind of Jedi Knight are ya?" She teased him. Max's eyes lit up as she realized what she was getting at, and ran from the room. Clary smiled after him before letting out another moan and stretching her arms above her head. After she stretched her legs as well, she pushed her blankets off her and rolled out of bed. Isabelle appeared in the doorway, wearing a hoodie and a pair of skinny jeans with a mug of coffee in her hand. "That better be for me," Clary croaked out.

"And if it isn't?" Isabelle taunted back.

"Then I'm taking it anyway," Clary shot at her and Isabelle grinned, holding out the cup. Clary walked over to her and took a sip, letting out an almost orgasmic groan. Isabelle looked a little nervous, moving from foot to foot and opening her mouth a couple of times to say something but the words never coming out. Clary turned around and walked over to wardrobe, flicking through the clothes inside. "What is it, Izzy?"

"I invited Simon to come to the movies with us," she blurted out. Clary froze for a moment, and then let out a laugh. "What?" Isabelle huffed.

"Nothing," Clary replied as she pulled out a long sleeved, mid-thigh length dress and held it up in front of her.

"No. What?" Isabelle pushed.

"So Simon is coming to the movies with us? And?" Clary put down the coffee cup on her drawers and pulled off the over-sized shirt that she slept in and dropped it to the ground. She pulled the dress on and then turned to look at herself in the mirror. She made a face and then scavenged around in the bottom of her closet for some shoes.

"Well, I was kind of hoping that maybe it would lead to dinner afterward," Isabelle admitted, her voice quiet, shuffling her feet again. Clary let out another laugh and Isabelle narrowed her eyes.

"You know I'm absolutely fine with looking after Max while you get it on with my brother," Clary sung out to her.

"That's not what I was getting at!" Isabelle gasped. "And besides, he's your foster brother. You're always saying that, and it makes it feel a little less incestuous if you don't call him your brother."

"How's it incest, you fucking weirdo?" Clary made a face at her. "It's not like we're related."

"Well, you feel you like my sister," Isabelle muttered. Clary grinned at her as she finally found the shoes she was looking for and slipped them on. "Anyway, it's not about me getting laid. It's just dinner." Clary rolled her eyes as she folded her arms over her chest and gave her a pointed look. "Maybe a drink or so after..." Clary smirk deepened and Isabelle's cheeks went red.

"Can we go now?!" Max whined out, suddenly appearing back in the doorway. He looked between Clary and his mother and frowned. "What's going on here?"

"Simon's coming to the movies with us," Clary said.

"Yay! But can we go now?" Max repeated.

"Yeah, just let me..." Clary picked up the coffee cup and gulped back the hot liquid. She winced but finished it off and swiped a hand over her mouth. "I'll brush my teeth and then do my make up. Give me two seconds." She darted between the two of them and over to the bathroom. Max rolled his eyes up to his mother and huffed.

"It takes her so much longer than two seconds to do her make up," he sighed.

"I know, buddy," Isabelle sympathized with him. "Why don't we head downstairs, aye?"

* * *

The new Star Wars movie was good, nowhere near as good as the originals but far better than the prequels. Simon and Clary were the most passionate about it, while Isabelle just shrugged and said she found them all mediocre, and Max just said he liked the lightsabers. Isabelle and Simon fell all awkward and silent when they went to go their separate ways. Simon was driving Isabelle out to a restaurant for dinner, while Max and Clary were taking a taxi back to their walk up.

"Now, be good guys," Clary was taking far too much pleasure at their uncomfortable state. "And just remember, when all the fun stuff starts..." she put her hands over Max's ears. "Just remember to wrap it, aye, Simon?" Simon's cheeks flamed red and Isabelle glared at her. "We'll see you tonight," Clary sung out as she walked toward the curb to half down a taxi.

"Bye, mama," Max gave Isabelle a hug. "Bye, Simon," he waved at the man next to his mother and then walked over to Clary and took her hand. "Can we stay up late tonight, Aunty Rissa?" He asked her in a loud whisper. Clary laughed and looked over her shoulder, to where Isabelle and Simon were still within ear reach.

"Of course we can stay up late, babes," Clary grinned. "I'm the cool one, remember?"

"I heard that!" Isabelle called.

"Get lost! You're officially on a date now!" Clary shouted back. A taxi pulled up next to the curb and Clary ushered Max inside, waving one last time to Isabelle and Simon before the taxi steered it's way into the night time traffic and began driving them back home. Max was settling back against the seat, completely absorbed in some comic book that Simon had brought him, and Clary threw her arm around his shoulder.

She had never thought in her wildest dreams that she would end up partially responsible for raising a child. There had always been the fear that she would get pregnant, given how she had acted through her teenage years, but it seemed that once her and Isabelle had found each other, she had calmed down. She had only been sixteen, and living with two other girls who lived similar life styles to hers. It had been a while since she had been in a foster home, and it had been easy to fall through the cracks in the social welfare system. Isabelle was pregnant, with no money, and definitely no street smarts, and for some _completely insane _reason, Clary had actually wanted to be a part of this girls life. This girl and her child.

It had been a struggle, and there had been nights when they had gone without eating. Clary was used to it, but Isabelle wasn't. Simon had helped out as much as he could, but he was still only a kid himself.

Things got better when Clary got a fake ID and managed to get a job at a liquor store. It was the graveyard shift, which meant she could look after Max through the day so that Isabelle could look for work. Isabelle got a job at a grocery store. They were both on minimum wage, but it wasn't like they lived in the expensive part of town, and when they turned eighteen, they were able to afford a small place, just for the three of them.

Looking back, it was incredible they had actually survived.

Especially since the first time Clary had left Isabelle in charge of washing clothes, she had put them all through a cycle that had turned everything white the color red. The girl had never even scrubbed dishes before in life.

"Rissa?" Max's voice filtered through and interrupted her trip down memory lane.

"Yeah?" She blinked at him.

"Can we watch Star Wars tonight?" He asked.

"We just saw it!"

"No, the old ones!" Max grinned at her.

"Sure thing, babes," Clary smiled at him and ruffled his hair. "And you want to order in Chinese for dinner?" He nodded furiously at her, his glasses bouncing up and down on the bridge of his nose. She laughed and then looked out the window. They were almost at their place, so she looked through her wallet, finding cash for the fare and handing it over to the driver as he pulled over and they got out. Max skipped off in front of her, and Clary quickened her pace to catch up with the little boy. He waited impatiently at the front door before she unlocked it and let themselves inside. "You wanna get the movie ready and I'll ring up for Chinese?"

"Okay!" Max nodded excitedly, disappearing into the lounge. Clary couldn't help but smile after him as she shrugged out of her jacket and put it on the hook behind the door. Her mind went back to her earlier thoughts as she went into the kitchen to have a look for the pamphlet for the Chinese takeaways a couple of blocks away.

The small place they had lived in until Max was four had been big enough when he was a baby, but as he grew up, it just got more and more cramped. But the two girls weren't going to be able to afford anything more if they just stayed at the two minimum wage jobs that they were at, which was when Clary had ended up finding a job at the strip club. She was good at it, she had been using her looks to get things since she was a teenager, and she didn't mind doing it to get paid. She got on well with the other girls, and after making it clear to the boss that she wasn't going to be doing any of the 'extras' for clients with the boss, he respected her for it. Isabelle had been hesitant to leave her job at the supermarket, but then when one of the bartenders had gotten married and moved away, she was more than happy to take that job, as long as she didn't need to get on stage and dance around a pole. And despite what people said about people who worked in a strip club, the pay was _good_. Far better than any other job that was going on around them.

Simon helped out a lot, baby sitting Max when they had shifts that overlapped. And once he got a job at his families law firm, he started helping them out financially as well. Not too much, because both girls were too proud to accept money for themselves, but he would sometimes bring over milk or bread, or when it was a winter and Max kept getting a cold, and he had brought the boy medicine and warm clothes and thick blankets. Whenever the girls tried to repay him, he kept saying that they were family, and this was what family did for each other.

Clary loved him for it.

He had been the first person to make her feel like she was worth something, and he had been just as incredible with Isabelle and Max. She knew her foster brother was completely head over heels in love with Isabelle—and that was the proper kind of love, not the sibling love she felt for him—and she was damn happy for them if they had finally decided to give it a go.

"I'm ready, Rissa!" Max shouted and Clary quickly pulled out her phone and dialed the number for the takeaways.

"Won't be a sec!" She called back to him as she put her phone to her ear.

* * *

"I can't believe you're going to go through with this, bro," Alec exhaled heavily, his eyebrows raised as he reached forward to tap his shot of bourbon against Jace's. Jace nodded his agreement, clinking his shot glass against Alec's and then throwing it back, wincing at the burn.

"I'm going to need another one of these before going to speak with Stephen," Jace stated, holding up two fingers to the bartender and indicating that they wanted another round.

"You're going to speak to your father first?"

"Yeah, well, who do you think the first person that she's going to call is going to be?" Jace muttered.

"Her lawyer?" Alec snorted. Jace gave him a long, narrow look and Alec shrugged. "Her father."

"Yup, that's it," Jace gave a jerk of his head. "And her father is instantly going to call my father, and a shit storm is going to blow up. I mean," he let out a growl as the shots were pushed over to them. "I mean a shit storm is going to happen anyway, but it would probably be best if I talk to Stephen first, give him a heads up."

"How polite of you," Alec shook his head.

"Hey!" Jace glared at him. "A little more support here? I'm about to break up with my fiancée."

"Hey, I got your back, man. You know that," Alec told him, looking a whole lot more serious this time. He ignored the shot that was in front of him and put a hand on Jace's shoulder. "Look, I've never been a big fan of Kaelie, but you did actually have a thing for her, right back at the beginning, before this turned into some big business transaction. Are you sure that you want to actually break it off? You don't just want to, I don't know...Cool things down for a little bit?"

"No," Jace drew in a long breath through his nose. "No, I never liked her to the point where I was going to marry her. Things just got out of hand once our dads got involved. Like...We weren't even dating one second, we were just—hanging out. Sleeping together. Whatever. And then all of sudden, we were getting fucking engaged!" Alec nodded slowly, and then picked up his shot and held it out to Jace.

"Okay, then," Alec waited for Jace to pick up his own shot glass. "Here's to being a free man." Jace's expression was grim as he tapped his glass against his friends and then threw it back.

"Alright, I'm off. I'll text you once it's done. I will possibly be coming over to yours later on to get completely sloppy drunk," he forced a half smile and Alec gave him another comforting slap on his shoulder.

"You got this," he said. Jace nodded and got off the booth of the expensive bar they had been sitting at for the past few hours, while he mulled over the decision he had finally come to. He handed his ticket stub over to the valet and waited for his car to be brought to the curb. It didn't take him long to get to his fathers apartment building, but once he got there and parked in the underground lot, he sat there for a good few minutes, staring at the steering wheel of his car.

"I got this," he repeated back Alec's previous words as he finally took off his seat belt and stepped out of his car. He locked the door and headed toward the elevator, his footsteps a little jerky. It was getting late, almost eight, and his fathers maid would probably be gone by now, so rather than paging ahead, he just swiped his override key card. He pressed the button to take him to the penthouse and took a couple of deep breaths. "Okay, just...Okay." He was regretting this already.

He should have come back after he put more thought into this.

He should have written a fuckin' speech and rehearsed it before coming.

He should have never let his father talk him into this to begin with.

But then Jace kicked himself inwardly. He was a grown man, and he shouldn't be blaming anyone except himself for the mess he was in. He had liked Kaelie to begin with, and then after they had slept together a couple of times and gone out in public, he had gone along with his fathers plan because he had always just accepted that that was what was gonna happen.

The company comes first, alongside the public image.

He _should _have said no and put his foot down.

But better late than never.

The elevator slid open and there was no one in the main hall, so Jace knew he was right; the maid had gone home. He looked in the lounge first and then carried down the hall toward his office.

"Dad?" He called out. There was no answer, so he opened the study door. There was a glass of brandy on the desk, still half filled, so he had probably only just got up and gone to another room. Jace noted that there was another pair of panties strewn on the floor and he rolled his eyes.

Sounds about right.

Stephen was probably banging one of his new secretary's.

"Fuck it," he muttered. He would just talk to Kaelie first, and then deal with the fall out. He knew that breaking it off was the right thing to do, but it was still going to be hard, and if he didn't do it now, he didn't know when he was going to be psyched up enough to do it again. And it wasn't fair on her either; leading her own, making her think that everything between them was okay. He was turning back down the hall, ready to head toward the door when he heard a breathy moan. He would have ignored it, except it was a very familiar breathy moan.

His frown deepened as he tried the next door, opening it an inch.

He didn't see anything at first, until he had opened the door enough so that he could see the bed, and his body flushed boiling hot and then freezing cold. His hand was frozen on the door knob, and it felt as though he couldn't move.

His father.

And Kaelie.

She was stretched out on the bed, her legs wide open for him and her pelvis tilted upward. She was smirking up at Stephen, his eyes glued to her tight body, his hands on her hips. He was grunting as he plunged deep into her ass, his eyes staring down to where her fingers were rubbing at her cunt.

"What the fuck?" Jace finally managed to spit out, drawing two sets of eyes toward the door.

_OMG, by the way; has every seen the new _Wonder Woman _clips that have been released? Does Gal Gadot look like a complete babe, or what? And the new _Suicide Squad _trailer? Margot Robbie is incredible ;)_

_Oh, and how do we feel about Miley and Liam being back together? Yes, I'm completely aware she's a crazy bitch, but I fucking love her, and I was totally rooting for that couple ;)_

_So so so? Bit of a dramatic ending there. There's lot of you guys following__—_please _review and let me know what you think, don't just follow in the background. It makes all the hard work worth it! Anyway, leave a review, and I'll send a preview :) x_


	12. Chapter 12

_Last chapter was a bit of a shock for some people. You still interested? I apologize for any mistakes made, I'm fucking terrible when it comes to editing. _

"Jace!" Kaelie's eyes were wide as she closed her legs. Not like that was going to make much of a difference now. Jace was already backing out of the room and toward the elevator.

"Jace! Son!" Stephen shouted. He could hear his father rustling around, undoubtedly trying to grab his pants before following after the man. Jace stabbed his finger against the button, waiting for the elevator. Kaelie appeared in the doorway first, and he glared over at her as the door slid open.

"Jace, wait!" She cried out as Jace stepped into the elevator. He hit the button to close the door and sent it going down.

Kaelie and his father?

It was fucking absurd.

And yet sort of just made sense.

Jace let out a bitter snort as the doors opened on the lower ground floor and he stalked toward his car, almost breaking out in a run. When he looked back at the elevator, the little glass window showed it was zooming back up to the penthouse, probably where his father and his fiancée were pushing the button. He wasn't about to wait and give them a chance to cut him off, so he turned over the engine of his car and accelerated out of the parking lot without even bothering to put on his seat belt.

His father had never met a girl under twenty-five that he didn't want to fuck.

Kaelie was a gold digger, a social climber.

They were perfect for each other.

Jace's hands were clenched so tight around the steering wheel that his knuckles were bloodless. His jaw was set and he was grinding his teeth together as he glared out the windscreen. It wasn't until about twenty minutes later that he realized he had just gone in a big circle around a few blocks.

He had no idea where he was going.

Kaelie and his father.

That was something he hadn't seen coming.

Jace pulled over to the side of the road and slammed his fist against the dashboard of his car. And then he did it again, and again, until his knuckles were bleeding and the dashboard had a dent in it. It was a good thing he had tinted windows, although in that moment, he didn't really care what anyone who walked by might think. He took in a deep, shaky breath and leaned his head forward, resting it on the steering wheel.

Well, he thought, at least now she wouldn't be surprised when he called off the engagement. And he wouldn't need to go through an interrogation with his father, because he wasn't sure when he would talk to him again. Right now never was sounding like a good option. He already knew his father was a fucking asshole; everyone knew that. He had always been cheating on his mother, and Jace knew for a fact that he also slept with a lot of his business partners wives, but Jace had this ridiculous notion in his head that Stephen wouldn't actually have the audacity to sleep with his sons fiancée.

And Kaelie...Jace smacked his hand down hard on his steering wheel again.

His phone started vibrating in his pocket and he pulled it out to see his fathers name blinking away on the screen.

"No fucking way," Jace growled, throwing it down hard on the ground on the passenger side of the car. It bounced a couple of times and then stopped vibrating. He didn't bother to check to see if it was okay before he was indicating to pull back into the traffic.

He had no idea where he was driving.

He couldn't go to his apartment, because that would be the first place they would look for him. He wasn't sure if Stephen would even bother to try and look for him, but Kaelie definitely would.

And the second place she would look is Alec's, when she found his apartment empty.

There was no way that he could face her right now. His hands were trembling with anger on the steering wheel as his mind raced, wondering where he could escape to without her finding him. Because Jace wouldn't trust himself in the same breathing space as Kaelie right now.

* * *

"Hey, my darling," Clary murmured into Max's ear. Usually he didn't like being baby-ed, but he was drifting between sleep and awake, and his head was lolling back against her chest. They had finished Star Wars: The Phantom Menace and had then moved on to the second movie. That one didn't appeal as much to Max, given there was far too much 'yuck kissing' throughout. They were partway through the third one, and it was nearly ten o'clock. As determined as he was to stay up late, it had been a long day for him, and he was ready to go to sleep. She thought she would give it another half hour and then try to carry him up to his room. If that failed, she would need to wake him up.

Her phone vibrated on the table, and she stretched over to pick it up.

Come over?

Clary sighed and slid it back onto the wooden bench top. It was only a couple more minutes before there was another message flashing on her screen.

It's been a while. What's going on?

It wasn't like Sebastian to get clingy, although it could be because they hadn't fooled around in almost three weeks. Clary pressed a kiss to Max's forehead and he grumbled under his breath as he rolled over and tried to get comfortable. She waited until the end of the fight scene that was on TV and then extracted herself from Max's grip. She managed to pick him up, carrying him up the steps to his room. He woke up as she put him down on his bed, and stumbled around almost blindly to dress into his pyjamas before falling back into bed.

"Night, little dude," Clary whispered as she flicked on his night lamp and left the door partially open before walking back down the stairs. She went into her bedroom, and got out of the dress that she had been wearing that day. She pulled off her bra as well, changing into a pair of sleeping shorts, socks and an oversized hoodie. It wasn't often that she got to be home and relaxing, there was usually somewhere that she had to be doing or somewhere that she needed to be. She was planning on sitting down in front of the TV and binge watching her way through the first few episodes of the latest season of Supernatural. As she padded downstairs, there was a knock at the front door. She paused and then growled under her breath as she stomped toward the door. "I told you, Sebastian," she began snapping as she undone the lock. "Not tonight—oh!" She cut off when she saw who was standing there.

Jace.

"What are you..." Clary looked him over, noting his bloodied hands and the alcohol on his breath and his red eyes. "What's going on, Jace?" She dropped her voice to almost a whisper, taking a step closer to him, her eyes furrowed in concern.

"Do you think I could crash here tonight?" He asked, his voice strained.

"Of course," she didn't hesitate before answering. "But, uh," she looked over his shoulder, to the car that was parked on the street. He wasn't driving his Honda Civic tonight, he had come over in his Porsche—a car that would get a lot of unwanted attention parked out on their street at night. It's likely he would come back out tomorrow and it would have been stripped for parts, maybe not there at all. "Bring the car around the back, okay? There's a car port. I'll clear some of the junk that's in there now so that you can park it there." Jace nodded jerkily, spinning around and heading back down toward his car. Clary watched him for a minute, noting the way his steps were hesitant and his hands were clenching into fists at his side.

There was definitely something wrong.

She quickly slipped on a pair of shoes and went through their house, out the back door, hastily pushing things to the back of the car port to give Jace some room to park his car. By the time she was done, the car was purring behind her and she stepped to the side to let him pass. She lead the way back into the house and pursed her lips when they reached the lounge.

"Are you hungry?" She asked. "We've got some left over dinner."

"I'm fine," Jace grunted, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

"Okay," Clary nodded slowly. "Beer?" He paused and then nodded, swallowing hard. "Take a seat, I'll grab you one." He kicked off his shoes and walked into the lounge as Clary went into the kitchen and grabbed two bottles of beer from the fridge. On second thought, she grabbed the two cartons of left over Chinese and took them into the lounge along with a fork. She put everything down on the table in front of Jace and then sat down on the couch next to him. Usually, she would probably would have put some more distance between them, but Clary had a feeling that something was really wrong, and Jace needed comfort.

They drank their beer in silence as they watched TV. Partway through the episode, Jace took up Clary's offer for food, and was surprised by how hungry he actually was. His stomach let out an embarrassingly loud groan as he opened the first carton, and Clary let out a laugh. Jace gave her a sideways look and she just smirked, going back to watching TV. Despite everything, Jace couldn't help a tiny smile in response as he looked back down into the carton of food. She didn't prod or pry, letting him take time to open up about what was wrong.

"Is Izzy working?" Jace finally asked, about an hour after they had sat down on the sofa.

"No, she has a date," Clary responded. "With Simon."

"That guy from dinner?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "They've had a thing for each other since forever, and they only just decided to act on it."

"She deserves it," Jace muttered, giving a firm nod. "He seemed like a good guy."

"He is," Clary confirmed. "He's the best." Jace nodded and looked back into the carton of cold noodles. Clary pursed her lips as she looked back at the TV, wondering if now was a good time to ask what had happened. She left it for a little bit longer, until he had cleaned up all the food, and leaned back into the sofa. "What's going on, Jace?" She asked softly. Jace exhaled heavily and rubbed a hand over his face, closing his eyes.

"Kaelie was cheating on me," he said flatly. Clary sighed next to him and reached out to put her hand on his knee.

"I'm sorry," she told him.

"Yeah, well," he snorted bitterly. "It shouldn't really surprise me, right?"

"I don't know," Clary answered honestly, twisting her mouth to the side. "I mean, I didn't know her. And, like I've told you before, I've never really been in a relationship. I don't know what...What to expect," she shrugged uncomfortably. "But I mean, it sucks. It sucks shit...I don't mean to be rude or anything, but why did you come here? Why didn't you go to Alec's or something? He's your best friend, right?"

"She'll go looking for me there," Jace sighed. "And besides, you haven't heard the best part."

"Mm?" Clary raised an eyebrow at him.

"The person that she was cheating on me with..." he let out another snort. "It was my dad."

"Wait, hold up!" Clary snapped. "What the fuck?"

"You heard me," Jace sighed, lifting his beer bottle to his lips and throwing back some of the liquid. "My father." Clary was staring at him, her eyes wide and her eyebrows raised. "I was going over to my fathers place to talk to him. I was actually going to break up with Kaelie and I wanted to talk it over with him first. I got there..." Jace took in a deep breath and Clary squeezed his knee encouragingly, her fingers tracing circles through his jeans. "I got there and I thought that maybe nobody was home, because the place seemed empty. But it wasn't. He was there, and so was she," he finished bitterly.

"That fucking sucks," Clary told him quietly. They were both quiet for a few minutes and then Clary seemed to realize that her hand was still on his knee, her thumb rubbing against the material of his jeans, and she quickly snatched her arm back, crossing them over her chest and attempting to lean casually against the back of the couch. "Well, I'm all for drinking away your sorrows. I can be a good enabler with that."

"Thanks," Jace gave her a half smile that was anything but sincere. "But I don't think getting drunk is going to help this." Clary tilted her head to the side and made a face.

"Then I don't really have much anything else to offer, except more Chinese and Supernatural," she said apologetically.

"I'll take it," he nodded at her. He turned back to the TV screen, which was paused from when they had first started talking. "So, what's this show about?" There was utter silence from next to him and Jace looked over at her. He did a double take when he saw the horrified expression on the red heads face. "What?" He asked, looking a little confused.

"You've never watched Supernatural?" She uttered.

"Uh," Jace had a feeling that he may get kicked out of the house if he answered this question wrong. "Yes?"

"You liar!" Clary cried. "Ohmygod, how have you never watched Supernatural?"

"I don't know...I honestly don't actually watch all that much TV. There's always just so much that I need to do," he admitted.

"Same here! But I always have time for Supernatural," she looked as though she was practically scolding him. "Okay, so there are these two brothers, right? And they're both fucking babes. And they fight ghosts and demons and all sorts of shit. And there's this angel, his name is Castiel, and he's also a fucking babe, and there are insane sexual vibes between him and the eldest brother."

"Wait—between the eldest brother and the angel?"

"Damn straight," Clary nodded with certainty. Jace couldn't help but let out a short laugh and then relaxed back on the couch, taking in a deep breath through his nose and then letting out through his teeth. Clary resumed the playback of the show and settled on the couch next to him. There was some space between them, but as the show went on, they relaxed and stretched out a little more, and when the episode finished, Jace had his arm stretched out over the back of the couch and his fingers were brushing against her shoulder. "Are you in love? You're in love, right?" Despite how shit he was feeling right now, he couldn't help but let out a laugh at the way she was staring at him, her eyes all wide and a grin on her face.

She looked so relaxed, and so completely different from the sassiness that was usually on her face.

"Yeah, it's okay," he agreed.

"Okay? Okay? If you weren't in such a shitty place right now I would kick your ass out the door," she scrunched up her nose at him. Jace let out another short laugh. The credits finished rolling and then they stared at the blank screen for a couple of seconds before the recording of the programme came to a finish and they were taken back to the menu of different things the girls and Max had recorded. "Right, well, I'm going to head off to bed. I'll grab you out some blankets and things."

"Oh no, it's okay," Jace assured her as she stood up. "I remember where they were from last time."

"Alright, great," Clary nodded and ran her fingers through her hair, tossing it all over her shoulder before letting out a yawn. "I've text Izzy, so she knows not to freak out when she walks in and see's you here."

"Date must be going well," he commented as he looked at the time at the top of the TV screen. It was a little after twelve.

"Yeah," Clary grinned. "It's good. She needs to get out more and do her own thing. She had to stop being a teenager because of Max, ya know? And even before then, from what I understand about the life you guys lead, you never really got to be a teenager then either. So it's good that she gets to go out and have fun." Jace took in a deep breath and looked over at Clary, who was now standing and stretching, her arms reached above her head so that a strip of her taunt stomach showed beneath the hem of her shirt.

"Sounds like you guys can relate with that," he mentioned quietly. She froze for a second before shrugging.

"I can still go out. I don't have the same kind of responsibilities as Izzy. It's different."

"How did you guys even meet?" Jace asked curiously. "It's not as though you two run in the same social circles or anything." Clary laughed but then pursed her lips as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"I found her at the underground subway station," she said, her voice quiet. "She was sitting on the steps with a bag and she looked starving and lost. I mean—I get that there are hundreds of runaways in New York. Shit, I should know that better than anyone. But there was something different about her." She swallowed hard and shrugged. "I don't know. I was living with a couple of friends, well, kind of friends. More like acquaintances. And I said that she could come back with me. I didn't know she was pregnant until a few weeks later, when I kept walking in on her puking her guts out. And we sort of just made it work from there, I guess." Jace tried to imagine how it would have been for the two of them—the three once Max had been born.

He had no idea how they had managed it.

And how they had gotten to where they were today?

"You guys are amazing," he said sincerely. "You know that, right?" Clary looked surprised by his words and a little self-conscious. She shrugged again and then looked to the side.

"I'm gonna head up to bed," she told him. "I'll see you in the morning, yeah?"

"Night, Clary."

_So pretties, I have a new idea. I'm going to do a sort of alphabet songfic oneshot story. So each chapter will stand for each letter, working through from A - Z. Aaaaand the requests for each song are up to you guys :) Some of the letters have already been taken, because I've discussed this idea with a couple of people, but the rest are all up to you! So you can either send through requests in your reviews, or in PM, and let me know what ships you would want. I'm mainly Clace, Sizzy and Malec, but I don't mind trying my hand at other TMI ships. _

_You guys interested? _

_And please leave a review, and let me know what you think. Your reviews make me so happy. And I'll send you out a preview :)_


	13. Chapter 13

_New chapter, people! And also, I've but up the alphabet songfic story, so go and check that out. It's called _Pressing Play.

"Alec! Alec, open the door!" The banging on the door resumed and Magnus groaned and looked over at his boyfriend. They had ignored it the first couple of times, thinking that whoever it was had got the wrong door, but then the person had started shouting out Alec's name, and they realized that whoever it was, definitely intended to get their attention. Alec sighed and looked over at the clock beside the bed.

"Who the hell is that?" Magnus groaned.

"I have no idea," Alec growled, pushing off the blankets as the banging continued. "But whoever the fuck she is, she got past the doorman, and I'm fucking going to have a word with him. The only people who had cards to get up to my room are you and Jace. Not even my parents have free reign, no way do I want them traipsing in whenever they want."

"Alec!" Came another shriek and Magnus moaned, picking up a pillow and shoving his head underneath.

"This is why I don't screw woman!" His voice was muffled from under the pillow and Alec actually smiled a little at the comment before his face dissolved into a grimace as he got out of bed and looked around for something to put on. He pulled on a pair of sweatpants and padded through his apartment, walking toward his front door. He looked through the peep hole and then unlocked the door, staring out in confusion.

"Kaelie? What are you doing here?"

"Where's Jace?" She snapped, pushing past him and storming into the apartment.

"Jace?" Alec turned around, walking into the apartment after her, not stopping her from storming into the kitchen and the lounge. "What would Jace being doing here?"

"Right, what would Jace be doing here," she repeated back to him with a sarcastic edge to her voice. "Well, you're his best friend, I _assume_ that you would already know what was going on?" Alec pursed his lips and sighed, gathering that the break up hadn't gone down well last night. Not that he thought it would go down smoothly, but he didn't think he was going to have a psycho blonde storming his apartment. He had tried to call Jace a couple of times last night to find out how the whole thing had gone down, but every time, the call had gone to voice mail. He had guessed that Jace just wanted some time alone, probably holed up in his apartment with a bottle of Scotch.

"He's not here, Kaelie," Alec told her.

"I don't believe you," she snapped at him, stalking past him and heading toward his bedroom.

"Hey, hey!" Alec walked after her quickly and grabbed her wrist.

"Why don't you want me to go in there?" Kaelie glared up at him, trying to jerk her hand.

"Well, for one, it's my apartment, not yours, and you don't have free reign here. And second, I have a guest in there at the moment," he said firmly. Kaelie was still glaring at him but she didn't make another attempt to go toward the bedroom, so he let her go and stepped back, folding his arms over his chest. "He's not here," he repeated in a voice that didn't allow for an argument.

"Well, have you heard from him? Has he called you?"

"No, he hasn't," Alec said. She looked terrible. Her hair was stringy and her make up looked as though she had been wearing it all night, patchy and clumpy around her eyes. "You should go home, you look like you need some sleep."

"Yeah, well, I'd rather find my fiancée first," she replied. Alec frowned in confusion at her choice of words.

"Your fiancée?"

"Yes, my fiancée," Kaelie looked at him like he was an idiot. "Jace? Your best friend? Maybe you know him?"

"Right," Alec locked his jaw. "Okay, he's not here. And I haven't talked to him since yesterday afternoon. So if I can get a hold of him, I'll tell him that you're looking for him, okay?" Kaelie didn't look happy with the brush off, but she made a little noise of agreement before spinning on her heel and storming out of the apartment, in a similar fashion to how she arrived. As soon as the door slammed, Magnus appeared in the doorway, his eyebrows raised. Alec met his eyes and shook his head. "I'm honestly not too sure how the conversation went last night."

"Well, _something_ definitely happened last night," Magnus commented.

"But she still called him her fiancée."

"Could be she's in denial."

"She sounded pretty certain about it."

"I guess," Alec pursed his lips. "Jace's phone just keeps going straight to voice mail."

"I need to head off to work soon. You could go over to his place?" Magnus suggested, leaning against the doorframe.

"I'm guessing that she's already tried there, since she came here," Alec replied. "His place would have been the first place she checked."

"Does he have any other friends places that he would crash at?"

"I don't think so..." Alec drifted off. "I could try a couple of the boys, but I'm not sure."

"Right, we-ell," Magnus dragged out the word as he softly treaded across the carpet to where Alec was standing, hooking his finger in the band of his sweatpants and pulling him in close to him. "Do you think that before we split ways we have time to go one more round in the bed?" He smirked and slowly slipped his hand inside Alec's briefs, stroking his quickly hardening cock. Alec's worry about Jace faded away as he took a hold of Magnus's face and pulled him in against him, letting out a groan as Magnus pumped him faster.

* * *

"Mama?" Max asked through a mouthful of nutella toast. "How long is Jace staying with us?"

"I'm not sure, baby," Isabelle replied. "But I do know that if you keep talking while you eat, I'm going to take that toast off you." Max snapped his lips together and she gave him a soft smile before picking up one of the slices of apple that she had cut. She looked through to the lounge, where Jace was still fast asleep, and then looked down at her phone. The time said it was just after nine, and she wondered if it was too early to call her brother. She wasn't even sure if she was meant to be calling her brother and telling him that Jace was crashing at their place. Clary had text her around midnight, to say that Jace had shown up as a mess and was going to stay the night. Isabelle had been surprised but she trusted Clary's judgement, and she knew that Clary wouldn't just let him stay if he didn't have good reason. She had gotten home around one, but her body had woken her up at the normal time of just past six.

"Mama," Max began again after he finished off his toast. "Can I go watch TV now?"

"Mm," she thought about it before shrugging. "Just keep it turned down, okay? We don't want Jace to wake up too early." Max nodded and then ambled into the lounge, moving quietly around Jace and sitting down in front of the couch. He turned on the TV and made sure he turned it almost all the way down—he was a smart kid and had dealt with Clary on more than one occasion when she had a hangover. Jace remained asleep, and Isabelle moved around the kitchen, tidying up after their breakfast.

"Hey, babes," Clary mumbled, coming into the kitchen. She still looked half dead, her hair in a messy bun on top of her head and her eyes half closed. She was wearing a baggy shirt and a pair of sleeping shorts, and she stumbled over to the coffee machine, switching it on and then slumping against the bench.

"He's still here," Isabelle murmured as she got out a mug and handed it over to Clary. Clary blinked blearily into the lounge to where the morning cartoons were playing and Max had his head tipped all the way back so that he could see the TV from the awkward spot in front of the couch.

"He caught his chick doing his dad," she said bluntly. Isabelle almost choked on the bite of apple she had just taken.

"What?" She managed to spit out.

"You heard me," Clary replied as the coffee maker flicked off and she reached over to pick up the jug, pouring herself a cup. "He walked in on his dad doing his fiancée. Apparently he was going there to break the engagement off and wanted to talk to his dad about it first, and when he got there, he saw the two of them going at it."

"Holy shit," Isabelle gasped out.

"Ma!" Max cried out, spinning around from where he was sitting and looking over the top of the couch.

"Sorry, babe," Isabelle winced and then narrowed her eyes at Clary. "He hears everything," she mouthed at her friend, who just grinned knowingly in response.

"Ma!" Max called out again. "He's waking up!" Isabelle rolled her eyes and raised her eyebrows at Clary who smirked.

"Bet he loves that alarm clock," Isabelle commented as she saw Jace start to shift on the couch, tilting back his head as he looked around and realized where he was, before moving to sit up and stretching out his arms above him and rolling his neck. "Morning, Jace." Jace squinted over at her and nodded, slowly getting up and almost stumbling over to them. Isabelle noted that first thing in the morning he looked young—as young as he was when she had first left home. "You want coffee?" She offered, nodding over to the pot that had just been brewed.

"Yeah, thanks," Jace gave her a tired smile and she turned to pour him a mug. Clary was still resting against the bench, mug clasped in both hands and studying Jace on the opposite side of the kitchen island. When Isabelle turned back to give Jace the mug, she couldn't help but raise her eyebrows at the way Jace was looking back at Clary, his eyes suddenly a lot sharper than they had been a few seconds ago.

"So what happened?" Isabelle asked bluntly.

"I'm assuming you already know," Jace muttered as he took a sip of the coffee and then cringed. "Milk?" Clary handed it over silently, before going back to leaning against the bench. Jace's eyes once again lingered on her before unscrewing the cap and pouring it into his cup. Isabelle gave her friend a sideways look and pursed her lips to stop her from smiling.

Clary was hot; that was kind of just a fact.

Maybe she wasn't hot in the completely common way—she was quite short, she complained that her skin was too pale, and she would moan for days about her freckles.

Yes, she was short, but she had legs for days, and her body was in perfect proportion, except for her tits, which were a little bit bigger than a girl who size should really have, and Izzy was totally jealous of. Her natural hair colour was red, but more toward the strawberry-orange kind of red, and almost as long as Isabelle had known her, she had taken to dying it a dark red colour which looked amazing with her skin tone. And the biggest thing was she was _confident_, and she was totally comfortable in her own skin. It was underestimated by girls just how attractive that was, when they were like that, and it was even more so when it was like in Clary's case, when it wasn't some front that she was putting on.

"I didn't mean to just crash out here," Jace began after he got about half of the coffee down his throat. "I just..." he pursed his lips and then swallowed hard. "I just wasn't sure where else to go." Clary licked her lips and exchanged looks with Isabelle before she pulled out her cigarettes and walked over to the door leading to the tiny balcony outside, pushing it open and standing there, putting some space between the two old friends.

"Clary told me about what Stephen did," Isabelle said, making sure to keep her voice low, even though Max had turned the volume on the TV up. "It's screwed up."

"Well, it wasn't just Stephen. Takes two to be doing it dirty on a study desk," Jace muttered as he took another sip of coffee. Clary didn't say anything as she watched the two, puffing away on her cigarette, but her lips tightened as she noted the slight bitterness in his voice. Maybe last night it hadn't fully processed, but today it look as though it had started to really sink in, because his whole face was a thundercloud. "It's just I really couldn't face either of them, and the first place they would look would be Alec's, and then one of the other boys we hang out with, and I know that they would never think to come here."

"I get why you came here," Isabelle told him. "And you're completely welcome to stay." Clary's eyebrows shot up in surprise and Jace looked taken aback by the suggestion. Isabelle nodded and continued, "You're my friend, Jace. And friends are there for each other when things turn to shit."

"I...I don't really know what to say," Jace's eyes darted over to Clary, who's expression was carefully neutral once more. "Are you sure that I won't be imposing?"

"Max can sleep with me," Isabelle suggested. "You could sleep in his bed."

"Oh, God, no—I couldn't take his room!" Jace quickly said. "The couch is comfortable."

"A far cry from the fancy schmancy four poster bed you're used to," Clary commented with a slight twist of her mouth. Jace rolled his eyes at her before looking back at Isabelle.

"The couch is fine," he assured her. "And I can chip in with the groceries and everything."

"Well it's not a permanent fix!" Isabelle laughed. "Just a week or so, until you figure out what you want to do." Jace nodded and Isabelle pursed her lips. "Max! Are you okay with Jace staying for a few weeks?!" There was silence and then Max turned around and peeked his head over the top of the couch.

"Where are you going to sleep?" He chirped.

"On the couch," Jace replied.

"Do you like Batman?" His little face was extremely serious. Clary and Isabelle grinned at each other as Jace replied.

"Of course I like Batman," Jace answered, his voice just as serious, although there was a playful gleam in his eye. "He's the man."

"He can stay," Max decreed, bouncing up onto the couch and looking at Isabelle. "Can he come with me to Simon's tonight, ma?!" He asked with a grin.

"I'll have to talk Simon," Isabelle said. "Uh, do you mind staying here for a sec?" Isabelle turned her eyes toward Jace. "I need to talk to Clary." Clary raised her eyebrows in surprise but stubbed out her cigarette and followed Isabelle out of the room. She tucked her hair behind her ears and tilted her head to the side when Isabelle came to a stop out in the hall.

"What's up?" Clary asked casually.

"That just came out," Isabelle cringed. "I'm sorry."

"What for?"

"The invitation to stay," Isabelle rolled her eyes at her friend. "Were you even listening to me?"

"Mm, partly. Sometimes I loose interest and tune out," Clary grinned but Isabelle didn't look impressed. "Yes, I was listening. Chill out, Iz," she grinned again. "It's going to be kind of weird to have someone else in the house, but it's only for, what, a week or so, right? Probably even less, once he realizes that he can't have truffles and wine for breakfast," she snorted. "I can deal with it. Besides; his life is kinda shit right now. And it's not like his snob of a girlfriend is going to come looking for him here."

"Are you sure you're okay with it?" Isabelle confirmed.

"Izzy," Clary raised an eyebrow. "Have I ever been the person to think one thing and say another? I'm pretty sure you should know by now that if I had a problem, I would tell you straight." Isabelle tilted her head to the side and then nodded with a laugh. "Besides, with work and everything, it's not like I'm here all this much. I can go crash at Sebastian's for a few days if it gets too much."

"He probably won't stay here through the days, anyway," Isabelle added.

"Exactly," Clary smiled.

* * *

"This isn't quite how I thought tonight was going to end up," Simon said in a low voice to Isabelle and Clary as he watched Max excitedly show Jace Simon's impressive DVD collection. Isabelle gave Simon a sympathetic smile and winced.

"We didn't really know what to do," she muttered. "He looked kind of lost when we said that we were going to work, and that Max was coming over here for the night."

"Oh, no, it's totally...Fine," Simon looked a little awkward and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. Clary looked at him out of the corner of her eye and smirked.

"You guys will have fun," she teased. "I'm sure you guys have _so_ much in common and are going to have a good time."

"Yeah, he looks exactly like the kind of guy who is going to play _Dungeons and Dragons_ with us until one in the morning," Simon rolled his eyes.

"Til eleven at night, you mean," Isabelle corrected him as Max and Jace joined them in the dining room.

"Yes, of course," Simon quickly corrected himself with a sideways glance at Max. "Because we would never stay up past his eleven o'clock curfew." Max let out a giggle and tried to stifle his laugh with his hands, but his chubby cheeks glowed red as he grinned widely behind his hand. Simon tried to keep back his own smile as he looked back at Isabelle, who was rolling her eyes at the pair of them.

"Right, well, I'll be back to pick you up in the morning," Isabelle told Max, kneeling down so that she could look her son in the eye.

"Can we go out for breakfast?" Max asked hopefully. Isabelle laughed and nodded.

"Sure thing," she said. She got up and gave Jace a pointed look. "You be good," she said warningly.

"I will," Jace said with a smirk. Clary was watching the whole exchange from where she was standing behind Simon. Jace lifted his eyes from Isabelle to look over at the red head, who met his gaze steadily. He couldn't help but think how good looking she looked right now, in a pair of high heeled boots, tucked in jeans and a long jacket that was buttoned up, emphasizing her slim physique.

And then he felt a little uncomfortable, knowing that he was checking her out, when she was about to go off to work and have a hundred other guys check her out when she was wearing a whole lot less.

"You ready?" Isabelle asked, and Clary nodded at her friend.

"We'll see you boys later," she sung out over her shoulder as she turned on her heel and headed toward the front door.

_This one was a little bit of a filler chapter, I am sorry. But it will get better, I promise! Let me know what you think, and I'll send you a preview of the next chapter :)_

_OMG_—_I__'m going to see _Batman vs Superman _tonight! Batman all the way! I'm just a little bit excited, nerding out. Me and my husband are pretty psyched ;)_

_Ooh, and have you guys heard of Troye Sivan? I know I might be a little late to the party, but I did need to bring attention to him, because he's absolutely amazing. I cried in the _Blue Neighbourhood _trilogy. Like a _friggin baby_. If you haven't already seen it, and heard his other work, then you need to check it out._

_Oh yeah, and I totally solved the big siblings dilemma in the show! A simple DNA test, bitches. Takes two seconds, and then next episode, we're back on track again. _


	14. Chapter 14

_Hey, guys :) Next chapter. A question I got asked that I actually meant to address a while earlier, is I was asked who I imagine as the characters when I'm writing. Well, to me, Lily and Jamie will always be Clary and Jace. I think they did a spectacular job. And to be totally honest, the TV actors really frustrate me. Not saying they're not good actors or anything, I'm sure they're just doing what the directors tell them to, but they drive me kind of nuts. I find Clary super whiny and Jace unbearably broody. For pretty much everyone else as well, I imagine the movie actors. The only ones I see from the TV show (other than people who obviously weren't featured in the movie) is Matthew Daddario as Alec and Emeraude Toubia as Isabelle._

A few days went by and Jace was still there. Clary didn't have any problem with him there, apart from the few times that they had run into each other coming out of the bathroom, barely clothed. Clary thought that after a few days of having an extra person in the house, she was going to need a break, and go crash at either Simon or Sebastian's, but Jace wasn't a bother. In fact, Clary had been dodging Sebastian's calls more and more. They hadn't actually been together for almost a fortnight now, which was probably the longest time the two of them had slept together since they first started.

Maia had just seen him, and when she saw Clary at work that night, she said that he had been asking about her. Clary mumbled under her breath that she had a lot going on right now, and she didn't have time for Sebastian and his bullshit. Maia had raised her eyebrows in surprise but hadn't commented on it as Clary had finished fastening on her fake eyelashes and swiped on a coat of dark red lipstick, disappearing through the door that lead to the stage.

It was almost two in the morning before Clary got home, walking quickly with her hands in her pockets. She had ended up taking on a longer shift, and Isabelle had text her and said that Jace was happy to come and pick her up, Clary had told him not too. Apparently he had been pretty insistent about it, but Clary didn't know what time she was getting off, and she said that if he came down and just waited around in the crowd for her to finish and watching her on stage, she would punch him in the nose.

One of the agreements that they had come to when they had realized he would be staying for a few days, was that he was banned from the strip club for the time being. He had grinned and promised that he wouldn't, although he wouldn't be opposed to either of them coming home in their slinky work clothes. Well, he had said he would prefer it be Clary, given Isabelle was like a sister to him, but he was sure he could get over it.

Clary unlocked the front door of their house and stepped inside, wincing when the door squeaked and echoed through the house. It wasn't a completely silent house though, there was noise coming from the lounge and Clary frowned, taking off her jacket as she walked down the hall. Jace was stretched out on the couch, a blanket over his legs as he flicked through the channels of late night TV. He looked up when she came into the room and gave her a tired grin.

"What are you still doing up?" She asked him as she put her bag down on the floor by the doorway and came over to join him on the couch, pushing his legs out of the way to make room.

"It's not really that late," Jace told her. "Although, admittedly, when I'm usually up this late, it's because I'm out with my friends or—"

"Stealing cars?" Clary smirked at him. Jace rolled his eyes at her but then nodded a couple times with a grin.

"Yeah, something like that," Jace replied.

"You didn't answer my question," she pointed out, and he gave her a confused look.

"Making sure you got home safe," he told her, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world before turning back to the TV. Clary blinked, her chin jerking forward a little as her cheeks heated up. They fell quiet, watching late night re-runs of _Big Bang Theory_. After a few minutes, Clary turned her head to look over at Jace, studying his profile. Despite the fact that she had been trying to ignore it for the first couple of days—or maybe even the past month or so since she had first met him—she had to admit, he was absolutely gorgeous. His golden hair was shaggy, hanging an inch or so below his ears, and he had these amazing lips...God, they had only kissed a couple of times, and they hadn't even been proper kisses—but she could still tell that he would an incredible kisser. He turned his head and his eyes met hers. Instead of making some cocky remark about catching her looking at him, he just gave her a small, soft smile.

"How are you doing?" Clary asked quietly.

"Oh, ya know," Jace half shrugged and let out a sigh through his teeth. "Been better."

"Have you talked to her yet? Or your dad?"

"Nope," he shook his head firmly. "And I'm not planning on it."

"You know you can't avoid them forever, right?" Clary raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I know, but I can definitely try," Jace gave her a lopsided, forced looking smile. "I mean, I didn't love her or anything. But her and my dad? Fuck, that shit is just fucked up," he shook his head and Clary cringed sympathetically. "She was always a gold digger though. I mean, if we got hitched, she wouldn't do anything all day except go out and do yoga with her bitchy little friends and shop at the most expensive boutiques in the city and then when she gets older, she'll be doing the same thing, just with regular botox shots."

"Wow, uh," Clary scrunched up her nose. "That sounds pretty...Cynical."

"Well, it's the truth," Jace shrugged. "It's not like what we had between us was anything more than a passing attraction and then some mind numbing sex and a contract, all but signed in blood by our fathers." He had told Clary and Isabelle about the agreement that came from them being married and while Clary had looked as horrified as Magnus had when he had found out, Isabelle didn't appear too surprised. "I guess they were kind of made for each other, right?"

"Guess that's one way to look at it," Clary muttered.

"I'll get over it, though," Jace shrugged again. "I mean, I'm pissed more that I didn't see it coming."

"You're not more pissed at your dad?" Clary arched an eyebrow.

"He's a fucking asshole who cheated on my mum the whole time they were married and also slept with the wives of pretty much all of his business associates," Jace replied in a low voice. "I'm just his son, doesn't really mean much too him, other than having an heir and all that shit." Clary had a pained look on her face, but she didn't say anything, mainly because she had no idea what to say. Jace took in a deep breath through his nose and changed the subject. "I should probably call Alec and let him know what's going on, though. I kinda smashed up my phone the night it happened and he's probably been trying to get in contact with me." Clary shrugged and then, hesitantly, reached over and covered his hand with her own. He tensed slightly under her touch, but relaxed almost instantly when she squeezed his hand reassuringly. They didn't say anything else, both looking back at the TV and watching as Sheldon drove Leonard to distraction for the umpteenth time. Some time after three, after Jace had fallen asleep, Clary stumbled upstairs to her own room and fell into bed.

* * *

It was almost eleven before Clary came back downstairs, and she frowned when she didn't see Isabelle. Max would be at school, but Isabelle didn't have work until that afternoon, so she wasn't too sure where she was. She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hands as she fumbled a little blindly through her bag, trying to find her pack of cigarettes and lighter that she had stuffed in there from work the night before. When she straightened up, she turned toward the kitchen, planning on going through to the small, connecting balcony, and then stopped in surprise when she saw Jace standing there.

"Uh," she arched an eyebrow. "What's going on here?"

"I'm cooking you breakfast," he told her, looking a little sheepish. Clary smothered her smirk as she walked into the kitchen and studied the room. The benches were a mess with flour and broken egg shells and dirty dishes, and there was a faint smell of something burning in the air.

"Right," Clary pursed her lips. "Have you ever cooked breakfast before?" Jace pursed his lips and tilted his head to the side. "Have you ever cooked _anything_ before?" She continued as she stepped further into the kitchen and peered over his shoulder, trying to get a glimpse of what was happening in the frying pan on the stove top.

"We had a maid once who tried to teach me how to make scrambled eggs..." Jace began with a sheepish smile and Clary let out a full blown laugh, making her eyes twinkle and her hair fall around her face. "Well, the instructions seemed pretty simple," Jace whined as he held up the cardboard packet of pancake mix.

"It _is_ simple," Clary grinned at him as she pulled a cigarette out of the packet and walked over to the balcony doors, opening one up and lighting the end. "Max can make those pancakes without any supervision."

"Well, Max is clearly a better rounded human that I am," Jace snorted.

"Kudos to that," Clary smirked back. "I think it's because he was raised by some pretty kick ass chicks."

"I can agree with that," Jace nodded at her. "Although I'm pretty surprised you've still got a smoking habit given you have a kid in the house." Clary shot him a narrow glare and he held up his hands in defense. "I'm not judging! Just...Pointing it out." She continued to keep her eyes in slits as she sucked in a lungful of smoke and held it in, before letting it out of the corner of her mouth and into the air outside.

"Okay, anyway, apart from you getting all judgey and shit, the idea to make me breakfast was very sweet of you," Clary gave him a small smile. "But from what I can of those pancakes, they look absolutely shit."

"Hey!" Jace protested, turning to look back at the frying pan and finally giving Clary a good look at what was going on in there. She cringed when she saw the mess inside, a lumpy, liquidy pile of...Something. Clary shook her head as she took a few more puffs of her cigarette and then flicked it away before coming back into the house. She stepped around him and stared down at it, letting out a snort as she stuck her finger into the mess and swirled it around.

"How is this cooked and completely raw at the same time?" She asked in wonderment, shaking her head, turning to Jace with a slightly mocking expression on his face. "You are truly talented, Golden Boy."

"I've definitely been told that," Jace grinned at her.

"I have a counter proposal," Clary said as she picked up the roll of paper towels and ripped one off so that she could wipe of the gunk on her finger. "How about I head back upstairs and get changed, you clean up this mess, and then I'll take you to a diner down the street? You can buy me breakfast from there—at least I'll know that it's edible." Jace pursed his lips as he looked around the kitchen.

"It might take longer for me to clean this up than for you to get dressed," he began with a sheepish expression.

"Then you better get moving fast," Clary gave him a half smile before she left the room. Jace watched her as she left, letting out a long breath through his nose, sucking his lower into his mouth as she went.

There was something crazy about her.

Something crazy attractive.

The longer he stayed here, the more he liked her, and the more he was jealous of the life style that she, Isabelle and Max had. Sure, they didn't have much money—in fact, he had seen the way they had budgeted for their grocery shopping the other day, and it was so completely meticulous, down to the last cent. He had offered to pay, but they had both look offended at the thought, insisting that they were fine. In the end, they had let him go thirds, because they were needing to buy extra since he was there, but neither had looked particularly happy about it.

But it wasn't about money with them.

And that was a concept that Jace was having difficulty grasping.

They had noodles for dinner last night, and the two girls had been drinking wine from a six dollar bottle while Max had lemonade, and they looked happier than Jace had ever seen any of the people at the events he had gone to where the champagne alone had cost over seven hundred dollars a bottle. They had all then curled up on the couch and put in a DVD, snuggled under a thin blanket, completely relaxed and content with themselves and each other.

He wanted that.

By the time Clary came downstairs, dressed in a pair of leggings and a loose singlet that said _Fuck What You Think_ with a cardigan thrown over the top, Jace had managed to clean up in the kitchen. At least, he thought he had cleaned up. Clary had snorted and shook her head as she picked up the roll of paper towels and a spray bottle of cleaner from under the kitchen sink and started scrubbing at the benches again. Jace felt bad when he saw how much he had missed so much, but she didn't look too bothered as she ran hot water into the sink to soak the dishes and then threw the dirty hand towels in the rubbish.

"You ready?" She asked as she grabbed her keys and wallet from the bench.

"Yeah, let's head out," Jace gave her a smile as he followed after her. She locked up the house and they started walking down the street.

"It's just a few blocks down," she told him as she shoved her hands in the pockets of her cardigan. "So where is Izzy? Did you see her before she left?"

"Yeah, she went out for breakfast with Simon," Jace replied.

"Oh, really?" A grin broke out on Clary's face. "Thank fuck for that."

"So there's been something going on there for a while?" Jace was attempting to walk sideways so that he could still look at her while they were walking forwards. "I mean, I sort of picked up on that when we first met him, back when we had that dinner where Magnus came over? I wasn't sure if they were actually together at that point, or..."

"No, they weren't," Clary shook her head. "Actually, they're still not really together. I think they're just taking things slow and shit—which is awesome, I'm cool with that for them. I just wish they would both accept that they're amazing people and they totally deserve each other and they need to be together." She hadn't realized that she had been ranting until she had finished and Jace was staring at her with raised eyebrows. "What?" She defended herself. "I'm pretty passionate about this."

"Clearly!" Jace let out a laugh.

"They're the two most important people in my life, other than Max, and I want them to be happy and they'll be very happy when they're together," Clary shrugged. Jace nodded and the pair of them fell quiet as they kept walking. When they reached the diner, Jace made sure to take a few quick steps to get in front of her so that he could open the door for her. She flashed him an almost smile and walked inside.

"Hey, babe!" Came a call from behind the counter.

"Hey, Aline," Clary grinned at the pretty girl as she and Jace walked up to where she was standing. Jace vaguely recognized her but wasn't too sure where he would have seen her before, so he just studied the menu on the chalk board behind her. "You been very busy today?"

"No, and thank fuck for that," Aline sighed. "I'm so hungover, I'm pretty sure I've thrown up all of my food for, like, the past week." Jace couldn't help but crinkle his nose at the thought that the girl who was going to be delivering their food was talking about puking her guts out, but thankfully neither of the girls noticed. "Anyway, what can I get you two?" She sent a pointed look at Jace, but Clary just pretended that she didn't see it.

"You want pancakes?" She nudged Jace playfully in the side.

"Yeah, pretty sure it's not going to take the cook here half an hour just to make a fucking mess," he muttered ruefully and Clary nodded with a smirk.

"Can we get two lots of pancakes? Shit tons of cream and berries with mine, and..." she trailed off and looked at Jace.

"Yeah, works for me too. And maple syrup," he added.

"Coming right up," Aline winked at the two of them, scribbling out her order and handing it through a gap between the front counter and what looked like the kitchen. She rang up their order, and Jace paid, following Clary to a seat near the back of the diner. There were quite a few other people in the room, the room loud with talking and the music that was coming from the speakers, playing some trashy top of the pops music. They sat on opposite sides of the table, Clary instantly picking up a packet of sugar and ripping it open, tipping it into her mouth. Jace's eyebrows were arched as he looked at her and she shrugged at him.

"What?" She asked, not at all ashamed. "It's good." He let out a laugh of disbelief.

"Sorry," he shook his head. "Just not used to...This."

"What? Sugar?" She teased him. "Shit, you've been even more sheltered than I thought."

"You know that's not what I meant," Jace rolled his eyes with a grin. "Just, I don't know," he shrugged and looked around. The diner was cheap, and not particularly clean, and the food probably wasn't five star, but Clary looked completely at ease. It was yet another thing that was opposite from the restaurants with waiters in stiff black suits and starched white shirts. "Everything," he finished lamely.

"Yeah, well, maybe it's not as fancy as what you're used to, but it's good enough for the rest of us," Clary shrugged. Jace didn't know how to reply, so he changed the subject.

"So how do you know the waitress?" He asked, nodding over to Aline, who was now talking to another customer.

"She dances at the club with me," Clary replied. Jace realized that was probably where he had seen her before. They went quiet for a few minutes before Aline brought their breakfast over, putting it down on the table and winking at Clary. "Thanks, Aline," she gave her quick smile before picking up her knife and fork.

"So," Aline turned her gaze toward Jace, blatantly appraising him before rolling her eyes back to Clary. "Is this the new Sebastian?"

"No," Clary said sharply. Aline was still grinning and wiggling her eyebrows. "You can fuck off now," she grunted out with a roll of her eyes. Aline smirked and spun around, swinging her hips as she walked off. Clary went back to cutting into her pancakes and covering them with maple syrup, but Jace was watching her. "Dude, you really come here _not_ to eat? Because it's not exactly a vacation spot?"

"Sebastian is that guy...The one you're sleeping with, right?" He asked.

"Yeah, I guess," she gave a one shouldered shrug. "Although not for a while, actually," she narrowed her eyes as she chewed her food, thinking back to when the last time she saw Sebastian. She shrugged again an looked back down at her plate.

"Why's that?" He pressed.

"Why's it any of your business?" She raised an eyebrow at him. Jace thought about it for a second and then gave her a rueful smile.

"Just making conversation," he replied. They ate in silence for a few minutes before Jace started talking again. "So...Do you have any family?" Her whole body stilled and he could have kicked himself, because now that he was thinking about it, with the life that she was leading, it was clear that if she had a family, they weren't a very good one. "Uh, dumb question. Sorry." Clary took in a breath through her nose and then looked over at him, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"Yeah. I had parents, and a brother," she told him quietly, and Jace almost jerked in surprise at her admission. Clary was definitely not the kind of person who revealed personal things about herself, he knew even less about her since he had been staying with them. "But I really don't have anything to do with them—at least with my dad or my brother. My mum died a long time ago." Jace pursed his lips and sighed.

"Sorry," he mumbled, not too sure how to respond.

"Yeah, well, I told you I don't do relationships, right?" She had this look on her face, her lips in a flat line and her eyes turned downward. "That applies to everyone."

"Except Simon, Izzy and Max," Jace interjected.

"Except Simon, Izzy and Max," there was a little flush that stained her cheeks and her voice was quiet, almost inaudible as she looked down at her plate. "Yeah," her face softened in a way that Jace had only seen when she was completely relaxed, usually when she was with Max, or drinking coffee in the kitchen in the morning with Isabelle. "I kinda love them." Jace's chest tightened, and there was almost a suffocating feeling in his throat and a weird thought that flitted through Jace's head.

He wished that she got that soft look when she was talking about him.

_Now! My music obsessions since my last update! Actually, heaps of old songs have resurfaced on my iTunes. There's _Thinking It Over_ by Dana Glover, seriously this song makes my heart ache like every time I hear it. I think I obsessively listened to it when I was a teenager when I went through a break up, melodramatic child that I was. Then there's _Pony_ by Ginuwine. LOL. Don't know what's got me so into that one all of a sudden. And the third one is _Bring Me Back To Life_ by Extreme Music. Seriously, the _Shadowhunters_ show has a pretty great soundtrack, I think I've fallen in love with every song I've discovered through there!_

_Oh gosh, _aaaaaaaand _there's this cover of a Jesse McCartney song, _Beautiful Soul, _by SoMo. I watched a Stydia fan video to the song, and I'm now just completely in love._

_Oooooh, and in the post the other day, I got my Stilinski 24 hoodie. Can you tell I'm obsessed with _Teen Wolf _just a little bit? Yes? No? Maybe? LOL._

_As usual, please feed my obsession with songs and reviews :) It'd make me very happy, and I'll send you a preview xxx_


	15. Chapter 15

_Couple of things have happened since my last update. First thing is sad, one of my kitties died :( Not too sure how, appears as though he ate something poisonous in our neighbours yard. Me and my hubby and my second kitty are very upset. Second thing is happier, thank God; it's my birthday today! Yes, Friday the 13th. LOL. I'm getting old. _

_Also as a side note, I've posted a couple of pilot chapters for a few Clace stories that I'll be starting. They don't have a set updating schedule yet, but they will be expanded on and turned into full multi-chapter stories, so go check them out and let me know what you think :)_

_I apologize for any mistakes made in this chapter :)_

It had been almost a week, and Jace was feeling guilty as hell about not getting in contact with Alec. To be honest, there was definitely a part of him that was surprised Alec hadn't thought to look here, but then again; why would he think to come here? As far as Alec knew, Jace had broken up with his fiancée and he probably thought that he had gone out on some spree that involved a hell of a lot of drinking and hookers.

It's not as though Kaelie or Stephen would have made it public knowledge what had really gone down.

But Alec really would have been expecting him to get in contact by now, and Jace owed it to his friend. So he borrowed Isabelle's phone one afternoon, after she had tried to show him how to make cheese sauce for the lasagne and then promptly given up and taken over after he had almost burnt a second lot, and went outside to phone his best friend.

"Izzy?" Alec answered on the second ring.

"Alec! Uh, no, uh—" Jace ran his hand through his hair. "No it's me—"

"Jace? What are you doing with Izzy's phone? Wait, is that where you've been this past week? Shit, dude, what the hell happened?" Alec's words were all spilling out over each other. "Because Kaelie showed up here right after you were meant to be breaking up with her, and she was delusional as shit!"

"She showed up at your place?!" Jace asked, sounding horrified.

"Yup, ranting and raving, thinking that you were hiding out there," Alec informed him. "And she still thought that you guys were together or something! I mean, you did break up with her, right?" Jace stayed quiet on his end, contemplating what to tell Alec. After a few moments of silence, Alec spoke again. "Please tell me you're not still engaged to that crazy bitch, right?"

"No," Jace assured him, and then cringed. "Well, not exactly. No—no, I'm not."

"That sounds like a hell of a lot of uncertainty for a break up," Alec shot back at him.

"We didn't really...Talk," Jace wasn't looking forward to recapping what he had walked in on all over again, but Alec was his best friend and he would tell him eventually. The longer he left it, the more annoyed Alec would be that he had hid it from him. "Look, we never got around to the actual talking part because...Because I walked in on her and Stephen." There was utter silence for a moment and Jace had to pull the phone away from his face to check that the call was still going.

"What?!" Alec practically screamed down the phone.

"Yeah," Jace actually let out a short laugh. "Yeah, that's pretty much what I was thinking."

"Well, no wonder she came over here in such a fucking state," Alec let out a long whoosh of breath. "That's, uh, that's really something."

"Although given how messed up that girl is in the head, it's a no wonder that she might think that we can work through this little indiscretion of hers," Jace rolled his eyes. Talking with Alec settled his head in a way that Clary and Isabelle couldn't. Don't get him wrong, they had been absolutely amazing, giving him time and space to try and work all of this shit out in his head, but Alec was his best friend, and just simply telling him what was going on was enough to make him feel that much lighter.

And it made him realize something.

It was Stephen that he was mad at.

It wasn't Kaelie.

Honestly...He didn't even really care about Kaelie.

He had been furious at the time, which was completely understandable, but then as the week had gone on, it had faded to a mild irritation. Dealing with the fall out was going to be tiring, and it was going to cause problems in his line of work, but maybe going and feeling completely comfortable there without the fear of her walking into the room.

"Are you okay?" Alec asked quietly. "I mean, I know you didn't love her and everything, but still..."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Jace replied, pressing his fingers to his temple. "I actually am...Fine." It sounded weird to say it, even though he had been saying it all week to the girls. But saying it to Alec made it seem a whole lot more concrete. "No, I'm fine. I mean, I'm pissed as shit at Stephen—he's an asshole and he's a fucking prick, but I never thought that he would do that, you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Alec muttered. "Uh, well, do you know when you're coming home?"

"Probably within the next few days," Jace told him. "I'm going to go and see my mum first, unless Stephen has already got to her."

"Given your phone has been off and she would have tried to call you as soon as soon as she heard, she would have tried to call me," Alec said. "And she hasn't done that, or come over or anything."

"Unless he twisted the story that he told her," Jace grunted.

"Yeah, except he would have twisted the story."

"Your mum is smart enough to believe that shit, though," Alec reminded him. "She put up with him for years, and she wouldn't believe any of it without talking to you first. So, no. I don't think she knows." Jace thought for a moment and opened his mouth to reply when there was a tug on his arm. He looked down to see Max standing there, an adorable grin on his face as he held up a comic book.

"Can you read to me? Mama is busy making dinner," he asked.

"Is that Max?" Alec asked him.

"Yeah, it is," Jace grinned down at the boy. "I'm talking to your Uncle Alec," he told Max and got a wider grin.

"When is he coming over next? Is he bringing his boyfriend? I liked his boyfriend." Jace heard Alec laugh on the other end of the line, and he thought about how easy it was for this kid to make people laugh. It was like he was just a natural soother, making everyone around him feel better despite the tense conversation they had been having.

"Did you hear that?" Jace asked, even though he knew Alec had.

"Yeah, yeah I did," he could practically hear Alec grinning at his nephews words down the line. "Tell him I'll come over soon." Jace relayed the message to Max, who grinned and then headed back into the house. "Hey, Alec?"

"Mm?"

"I mean, it didn't exactly go as planned, but I broke up with Kaelie. I think it's your turn to come out to your parents," he said quietly. Alec let out a sigh and Jace held his breath for a moment before continuing. "Come on, man. You've talked about it for a while now—just like how I'd talked about breaking up with Kaelie for ages. I did my part...Sort of."

"Yeah, sort of," Alec emphasized.

"Hey, you've been hiding this for longer than me," Jace pointed out. "And you and Magnus deserve to be able to be an actual couple, not all this hiding around anymore."

"Okay, look, I'll do it," Alec finally blurted out.

"You'll do it?" Jace blinked in surprise.

"I'm going to do it," Alec confirmed. "But I need you to be back here first, okay? So that at least I have someone to run to and drink with when my parents disown me."

"They're not going to disown you," Jace tried to comfort him.

"Oh yeah? Look what they did to Izzy," Alec retorted.

"Jace!" Came Max's call from inside the house.

"Look, it's going to be fine," Jace said. "Everything's going to be fine, okay?"

"Okay," Alec breathed. "Okay, but you're coming back this weekend, right?"

"Yeah, I'll come straight to your place," Jace promised. "And then we can properly catch up and all that shit."

"And get drunk," Alec interjected. "Really, really fucking drunk." Jace let out a laugh as his best friend stated exactly what he was thinking.

"Yeah," he agreed. "And that." They ended the call and Jace took a moment to himself, standing out the back of the house in the cold breeze, just processing the conversation that he had had. He had already come to terms with the fact that the only proper relationship he had ever been in had just ended in one of the worst possible ways. And that he was actually completely fine with it. Or at least, he was fine with the fact that his fiancée had cheated on him. He knew that it was going to happen sooner or later, he had sort of just accepted that.

He really wasn't fine with the person she cheated on him with was his father.

It was going to take a while to come to grips with that, but that's what life was about.

Healing and moving on.

* * *

"Okay, so what's going on?" Clary asked as she slid into the booth opposite Simon, putting her hands on the table. "Because I just finished an eight hour shift and I kinda just want to get home and have a really long shower and a smoke."

"The home and shower part sounds good, although I would advise against the smoking," Simon said to her, making a face. "You should always avoid the smoking." Clary just rolled her eyes as she studied the menu. He had been trying to get her to stop smoking since she got the bad habit around fifteen.

"You're paying for my coffee, by the way," Clary said as the waitress came by and asked for a black coffee. Simon didn't order anything, which made Clary frown, because her best friend was always hungry. She tilted her head to the side and reached across the table, covering his hand with one of hers. "What's going on, Simon? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just..." he took in a breath. "I want to ask you something about Izzy. Like, I want to ask Izzy something, but I want to ask you first. Just to, uh," he was rambling and Clary raised an eyebrow, letting out a short laugh.

"Well, I hope you're not asking her to marry you, coz it is way too soon for that," Clary joked. Simon still looked nervous, chewing down on his lower lip and Clary frowned. "Wait—you're not, right? Because I know you're totally in love with her and shit, but that is a really, really bad idea! Maybe later down the track—but not now—"

"I'm not proposing!" Simon interrupted her and Clary let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank fuck," she stated. "Because she would turn you down."

"Thanks," Simon rolled his eyes sarcastically.

"Like, down flat. On your ass."

"You're so lovely," Simon grouched and Clary smirked, perking up when she saw the waiter coming over with her coffee. She picked it up and took a sip, looking over at Simon with a pointed expression. "Right, okay," he nodded. "There's a job that's come up, at my work," he began. "It's not great or anything, just in the office helping with filing everything and answering the phones and stuff, nine to five shift through the week. And I was going to speak to Izzy, and see if she wanted it, when her and Max come over tomorrow night." He paused, as though worried about what Clary's reaction was going to be. She frowned for a moment before tilting her head to the side.

"That sounds fucking awesome, dude. What's the problem?"

"Well, I—I didn't want you to think that I was forgetting about you! So I wanted to make sure that you were okay with me...Offering it to Izzy," Simon cringed a little. Clary was still frowning, and she took in a deep breath before answering.

"Si..." she sounded a little disappointed, and that made Simon worried about what was coming next. "How could you think I would be mad at you for that?" She tightened her fingers around her coffee cup. "Come on, man. That sounds perfect for Izzy—and for Max," she reached across the table and gripped his hand. "I'm totally fine with you offering it to Izzy." Simon smiled and grabbed her hand back. "It'll be so good for them, and she'll fit right in," Clary snorted. "Can you really see me at a desk job? Wearing knee length skirts and those shirts that button all the way to the top?" She scrunched up her nose and stuck out her tongue. "It sounds like my own personal kind of hell." Simon laughed, and then impulsively leaned across the booth and kissed her on the cheek. "Besides, I wouldn't be smart enough for that shit."

"Oh, whatever, Clare!" Simon rolled his eyes. "You're smart, and you know that. You always passed shit at school easily when you actually _went_, and when I first started accounting, you used to look at my books and know what was going on." Clary just shrugged.

"Eh," she muttered, clearly not wanting to talk about it. "Whatever the case, you're kind of an asshole for thinking that I would have a problem."

"I know—I know, I knew you'd be okay with it, I just..." he sighed. "Fuck, I don't know."

"It's perfect for her," Clary repeated. "She'll have fixed shifts, be able to get home at a proper time every day for Max—and not have to shower off the sweat and smoke and everything before she gives him a hug. It'll be a proper contract and shit, right?" Simon nodded an affirmative. "That's good; steady hours and pay...It'll be really good. And oh my god—and benefits! And she's smart too, she'll pick up on that stuff really quickly."

"I've told my boss the basics about her, and he said that he wants someone that he can trust, and if I trust her, than she's pretty much got the job. They just want to meet her," Simon said.

"She'll be great that, got her hoity-toity manners and shit that she can use," Clary ginned, "Okay, well, now that we've sorted this shit out, you realize you're gonna get laid really well when you tell her this, right?" She winked at him and Simon's cheeks went red. "Like, she's gonna suck your cock until you see stars and ride you until you pass out—"

"Shut up," Simon groaned, dropping his head into his hands. Clary grinned and took another drink from her coffee cup. After a few minutes, Simon peeked out from between his fingers. "That good, huh?" He grunted and Clary laughed so hard she was worried that the coffee she had just drunk would come out her nose.

"That good, buddy," she promised him. "That good."

* * *

When Clary got home that night, she dumped her bag down on the ground and shrugged out of her jacket. Max came hurtling into her, wrapping his arms around her waist and giving her a tight hug, before running back into the lounge where she could hear the TV playing. She had showered at work, using the tiny, scummy shower that barely heated up, since she had met Simon straight after, before coming home. She walked through the lounge, where Jace was sitting on the couch and then into the kitchen, where Isabelle was finishing dinner.

"Smells good," she smiled, kissing her friend on the cheek and giving her arm a squeeze. Isabelle lifted an eyebrow and laughed.

"What's got you in a good mood?" She asked as she pulled out some plates from the cupboard and put them on the bench.

"Oh, nothing," Clary wasn't going to steal Simon's thunder. Isabelle clearly didn't believe her, but she didn't say anything as she got two oven mitts and pulled the glass dish with lasagne, putting it on the wooden chopping board. Isabelle dished up four lots of lasagne and then the salad that she prepared, giving Clary looks out of the corner of her eyes. "What?" Clary smirked at her, feeling all bubbly in her stomach and trying to swallow it down. It wasn't until she was walking back from the diner that Simon's news had properly sunk in.

Isabelle was going to get out of the club.

She was going to get a proper job.

A respectable one.

The kind that Max could actually talk about at careers day at school.

Isabelle and Max were two of the most important people to her, and anything that would benefit them, made her happy. Simon's nervousness wasn't warranted, and she had felt a flare of anger at the idea that he thought she might envy the opportunity for Isabelle. But she had squashed that down, knowing that Simon wasn't saying it because he was thinking ill of her, he was just overly sensitive when it came to her, never wanting to offend or upset her. So now, she was just plain happy.

"Did you get laid?" Isabelle asked with a snort. "Thought you hadn't seen Sebastian in a while."

"I haven't," Clary shot back as she dunked her finger into the sauce around the edge of the glass dish, putting it in her mouth and sucking on it. "What makes you think I can only be in a good mood because I've gotten laid?"

"Then why are you acting like this?" Isabelle protested with a laugh.

"You'll find out soon enough," Clary finally relented and Isabelle frowned.

"What? You can't tell me?"

"Tell you what, mama?" Max piped up, appearing in the doorway, Jace behind him. Clary spun her grin toward them, coming around to the other side of the bench and leaning down to nuzzle her nose against Max's and then straightening up and kissing Jace on the cheek, not even thinking about the innocent movement.

"Something's got your Aunty Rissa in a good mood," Isabelle said. Jace was still standing completely still in the doorway, and Isabelle flickered her eyes over to him, noting the way his cheeks were flushed just a little, and wondering if it had something to do with the kiss that Clary had just given him. There was something between them, and Isabelle had yet to come to terms with whatever it was—she knew that the pair of them were definitely still trying to figure it out, so she was going to leave that.

"You'll all find out soon enough," Clary repeated her earlier comment. "Anyway!" She clapped her hands together. "Dinner smells good, right?"

"I agree," Jace walked over to the bench, picking up two plates, and walking them over to the table. Isabelle brought the other two, while Clary filled a jug of water and then made a second trip for four glasses. Jace fit in well with their family, and when they took their spot at the table, Clary opposite him, she felt her stomach do a little twist and turn thing when their ankles brushed together under the table. Max was the one who kept most of the conversation going at the dinner table, yabbering on about what he did in school that day. He and Jace also talked a bit about the comic that Jace was currently reading to him, and there was a contented smile on Isabelle's face when she finished her dinner and leaned back in her seat.

"So how did it go with Alec?" Isabelle asked after Max had skipped upstairs to have a bath.

"Uh," Jace made a face as he scrunched up his nose. "Well, it doesn't sound as though Kaelie quite got the idea through her head that I wasn't interested in being anything to her anymore, especially engaged."

"Crazy whore," Clary muttered into her glass of water and Jace couldn't help but snort. Jace shot her a grin across the table but then shrugged.

"Anyway, I'm going to head home on Sunday morning," he said. "I think it's time I got back to reality. But," he looked between the two girls. "I just want to say thanks. A massive thanks. To both of you—and to Max. You didn't have to take me in, but I'm so glad you did, and I just don't know what I—"

"Shut up," Clary said abruptly. Isabelle slid her eyes over to her friend in surprise, and Jace looked taken aback. "You're family to Isabelle, which means you're like family to me. And you don't need to say thank you to us for just acting like family." She shrugged and got up from the table, walking over to the tiny balcony and opening the door. Jace and Isabelle met each others gazes, both with eyebrows raised in surprise with her comment, but Clary appeared to be moving on already. "If tomorrow's going to be your last day, you can come to a party with me. You and Max are going out with Simon, right, Iz?"

"Yeah, we're staying over at his place tomorrow night. The boys are going to have a movie marathon," Isabelle gave a soft smile at the thought.

"So you'll come with me," Clary nodded at Jace, the decision made, as she lit up the end of her cigarette and drew in the first lungful of smoke.

_Instead of songs, this time I want to rave about a couple of things I've watched on Netflix. Obviously, there's _Jessica Jones_. Okay, I know, I know, I'm a total Marvel freak, but it's amazing! I've had a few friends who aren't into Marvel at all who watched and they were in love. The second is a documentary, _Hot Girls Wanted. _It's kinda...Sad and shit, but it's really good. About girls who get into amateur porn and don't really know what they're getting themselves into. And then _Sense8. _Ohmygod. _Sense8. _It is absolutely incredible. I wasn't into it at first, but I stuck with it, and we binged on the whole season in the weekend. It was unlike anything else I've watched, and I definitely recommend. _

_Oh shit! _AND I SAW _Captain America: CIVIL WAR _LAST WEEKEND! _Holy shit. Just as good as I had hoped. Couple of things I was a little iffy on but *sighs dreamily* it was very good. Sebastian Stan and Chris Evans and Jeremy Renner all in one movie makes me very happy :) So if anyone is a Marvel fan and wants to fangirl, don't hold back! Especially if you want to fangirl about Stucky or Sebastian Stan talking in Russian or Wanda, who I absolutely fell in love with in this movie._

_But especially Sebastian talking in Russian, that was like a spiritual experience._

_Let me know what you think, and I'll send out a preview for a review xx_


	16. Chapter 16

_Hey guys! There's a couple of things that I need to say and they're kinda serious/sad/angry/whatever so I thought I'd get them over with at the beginning, and then my authors note at the end would be a happy one :) So if you guys wanted to skip forward, totally understandable._

_The first thing; there's been some real negative reviews going around. Everyone gets them, it's going to happen. It totally sucks, but it's unavoidable. But some people have been going out of their way to leave insanely long, detailed descriptions as to what they hate about stories and, come on, that's just unnecessary. I try to just delete flames and not think about them, they suck and sometimes I get a little pissed off and discouraged, but I try to ignore them. Sometimes it really gets to writers though, and they get mental blocks and choose to stop writing. Can we please just be nice? Constructive criticism—absolutely, but there's a difference. Remember we write for free, and for fun! Come on, everyone!_

_The second thing; I try not to mention world events on here or even on my social media account for several reasons. But I did want to say I was so upset when I heard about Christina Grimmie dying! I have listened to her on YouTube for years, and I was actually listening to her the morning that I found out she was shot. It's so horrible. I think what freaks me out is I've just listened to her for so long, and she's the same age as me, and it just so scary...It's just not okay :(_

This felt a little weird.

Going to a party, with Clary.

_Just _with Clary.

Well, not _just _with Clary, because there were going to be other people there, but it was just the two of them leaving together, and hopefully coming back together. And when he thought like that, it made him worried, because it wasn't like he had some kind of say over her. He had no right as to whether or not she was going to bring someone back from this party tonight. And if she hooked up with this Sebastian guy, who she clearly had a lot of history with, he couldn't exactly stop her.

But the idea of the two of them fucking while he slept on the couch downstairs...It actually made him feel physically sick. So all he could do was really, really, _really _hope that she wasn't planning on bringing anyone back.

"Everything all good?" Jace called from the bottom of the stairs. Clary had told him to be ready around ten, and it was now half past and she still wasn't down. He knew that girls took a while to get ready—shit, sometimes it felt like forever when he had to pick up Kaelie, but then she would also have a hair stylist and a make up artist with her when it came to the really fancy parties they had to go to.

"Yeah, it's good," Clary called back to him and he heard movement upstairs. She came down and Jace couldn't stop his eyes from roaming up and down. She had straightened out her hair so that it fell even longer than usual, and she had a short grey dress on that had one long sleeve and one without any sleeve, leaving her slender shoulder bare. Her eyes were rimmed in dark kohl and her lips were glossy, and he couldn't help but huff out a laugh when he saw she was wearing simple converses on her feet, which was just...Fitting. It might look stupid on some people, but she somehow pulled it off. "You done?" Clary gave him an amused smirk as his eyes met hers.

"I could use a few more minutes," Jace jibbed back, glad that things felt so easy between them, even if there were a few moments where there was a tension he couldn't explain. "You know, just to fully appreciate all of this," he waved his hand up and down, indicating her body.

"Oh really?" Clary snorted. "Well, maybe I should take a picture, make it easier when you jack off tonight."

"You're so classy," Jace snorted and Clary grinned at him. She went around the lower floor, checking the windows and back door, probably out of habit since they were all clearly shut and Isabelle had gone around and done the same checks before her and Max had left several hours ago. She grabbed her keys and then turned around to face Jace.

"Do _not _loose these," she said warningly. "If you loose these, me and you are going to end up sleeping on the steps outside, because there's no way we're interrupting date night for Simon and Izzy."

"I won't," Jace laughed as he took them from her and put them in his back pocket. "So how far is it? Do we need to catch a cab or anything?"

"Nah, it's just a few blocks over," Clary replied. Jace walked out the front door first, before Clary clicked over the lock and pulled it shut behind them. She must have seen the concern on Jace's face and she laughed. "Dude, it's not _that _scary out here. Besides, I'll protect you if anyone jumps out and tries to mug your pretty face." Jace rolled his eyes, but he didn't want to protest or argue, because she slipped her arm through his and walked close to his side as they started down the street. He liked the heat of her against his side, and part of him was tempted to see if he could take her hand, rather than just linking their arms together, but he would take what he could get. "So this isn't going to all fancy champagne and crack served on a silver platter like maybe what you're used to," Clary began with a teasing voice.

"Dammit," Jace snapped his fingers and gave her a mock-disappointed pout. "That's what I was really after tonight. Crack on a silver platter." Clary rolled her eyes at him and he laughed. "Just FYI, the hardest shit I'll do is weed. I tend to go harder with the adrenaline."

"Ooh, yes. The big bad car thief," Clary smirked at him. "How ever have you been getting your fix lately?"

"Haven't needed one," Jace shrugged, glancing at her sideways, his smile only half joking. "I mean, it's kind of just to distract me from life. You guys have been a way better distraction lately." Clary kept walking, her face straight forward, but he saw her suck the corner of her lower lip into her mouth and her eyelashes flutter down on her cheeks slightly. They were quiet for the rest of the way, which was only about another block, and then they were outside an apartment building. It wasn't the kind of apartment building that Jace was used to, it was the kind that looked like the elevator was always broken and as they started up the stairs, Jace noted that pretty much every second light in the hallway didn't work. Music got louder as they reached the third storey, and a couple of guys were leaning against the wall, looking up as they got closer.

"Clary! Baby!" One of the guys grinned and turned around to face them. Jace blinked in surprise as he saw a long, thin scar on his right cheek, and he quickly blinked and redirected his gaze, not wanting to appear as though he was staring. Clary and the guy hugged and he kissed her on the cheek before looking over his shoulder at Jace. "Who's your man?"

"This is Jace," Clary nodded at him. "And Jace, this is Bat." Bat Velasquez reached out and slapped palms with Jace. "And he's not my man," Clary rolled her eyes at him and jabbed him lightly in the side with her elbow. "Stop digging just because you want something to report back to Sebastian." Bat shrugged and grinned, not denying the accusation. Jace ran his tongue along his teeth as he watched them, wondering if he needed to be worried about Sebastian and whatever he was walking into here. "Just ignore them," Clary assured him, reaching back and grabbing for him, wrapping her fingers around his wrist and pulling him after her. "Oh, and that's Gregg. Usually they have Steve following around after them but he must have found someone decent to actually talk to." Bat rolled his eyes at her and she poked out her tongue as she opened the front door for the apartment and Jace was instantly hit by the smell of weed, and the sound of the music became so much louder.

"Shit," he muttered under his breath as Clary pulled him in after her. The apartment was filled with people, to the point where the air felt stuffy and hot, and everywhere he looked was hazy with smoke, and he had to blink to be able to see in front of him. He was glad that Clary was holding onto him or else he would loose her as they began walking through the apartment.

"Clare Bear!" Came a squeak, and then he felt Clary's grip on his arm loosen, and she was throwing her arms around a girl that Jace recognized. It was Maia, the one that danced with Clary and Jordan had a thing for. She gave him a smile over Clary's shoulder before turning back to the red head. "Okay, so I'm thinking that we need to get some shots into you. You're way too sober right now."

"I can agree to that," Clary smirked and Maia wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. "You coming, Golden Boy?" Clary called out to Jace, and he followed after her quickly, only a couple of steps behind her. There was a blonde who bumped into him, and she gave him a smile, battering her eyelashes at him, but Jace just kept walking. He found himself in a tiny kitchen that was filled with fast food rubbish and bottles of alcohol. There was a bong in the middle of the rickety looking kitchen table, and there was a metal tin that had smoke curling from it, from stubbed out cigarettes. "Word of warning," Clary said as she stopped at the bench. "If any of these bitches look like they might be the kind to have STD's, they probably do. So it would be in your best interest to stay away."

"She's right," Maia snorted. "Most of the skanks around here could share there diseases just by breathing the same air as you."

"Kudos to that," Clary smirked and bumped Maia with her shoulder. Jace was taken aback again by Clary's interaction. It was obvious that she wasn't as close to Maia or the boys outside as with Isabelle, Simon and Max, but there was a warmth between them that said she was comfortable enough.

"Here," Maia shoved a plastic shot glass over to Jace and he picked it up as he tried to keep his expression neutral.

He was pretty sure he had never drunk or eaten from anything _plastic_ before.

"Don't go getting posh on us now," Clary raised an eyebrow at him and reached out to tap her own plastic shot glass against Jace's and then threw it back. It was bourbon, and not the expensive, rich kind that he was used to, and he cringed a little as he swallowed it back. Clary was watching him carefully and laughed at his reaction. "You need a few more in you." Maia pushed the bottle of bourbon over to him and he poured himself and Clary another shot, that they swallowed. He thought that maybe that was it, but Clary just gave him an expectant look and tapped her shot glass on the table. Jace snorted and filled it again.

The party was unlike any other he had been too.

Definitely not the best he had been to because, hell—he had been to parties where there were naked girls hanging from the ceiling and there were sparklers crackling in the cork top of every bottle of champagne. But there was something almost relaxing about the way no one was trying to be anything that they weren't. There were no false pretenses or people trying to impress each other, other than a couple of trashy looking girls who were to be expected at every get together, trying to get in someones pants.

Clary knew most people in the dark apartment, and she introduced him to a lot of them, every now and then walking away to talk to someone, but always floating back to him. Jace liked the way she did that, standing close enough so that their arms brushed together but not crowding into his space like some clingy girlfriend—or like Kaelie. Jace hadn't had much to drink after the three shots, there was a red solo cup in his hand that was filled with some vodka and fruit juice. Clary on the other hand was quite drunk, but she handled her liquor well, she wasn't sloppy or cringe-worthy; if Jace hadn't been watching her as closely as he was, he wouldn't even know how much she had had to drink.

"So you and her have like a thing or something?" Jace blinked as he realized that he was being addressed, and looked up to see the guy, Bat, looking at him. He glanced over at Clary, who was smoking out on the balcony with Maia and another girl, and then looked back at him.

"We're just friends," he said evenly, not wanting to cause any waves.

"Yeah, sure," Bat gave him a lewd look as he lifted his pipe to his lips and then flicked on the lighter, burning it under the bowl. They were quiet for a few long moments as he smoked, and then Bat released the haze of smoke into the air. "No one who looks at her the way you do is '_just friends'._ Maybe you're friends at the moment, but that's not what you want from her." Jace opened his mouth to protest but Bat just shook his head and snorted. "I'm not going to say anything, don't worry about that," he clapped his hand down on the blonde's shoulder. "Good luck!" He let out a laugh and then walked off to join the guy he had been with when Jace and Clary had first arrived. Jace let out sigh through his nose as he traced his finger around the rim of his cup and looked back toward Clary.

Was it that obvious?

And then, what was _it _that was obvious?

He had been having these weird thoughts about Clary for a while now, just strange feelings and tinglings when she was around. It was the sort of thing that he heard people go on about, but he had never actually felt this way before. As though he could watch her for days, or he could try and make her laugh and never get bored of it, and how he really, _really _wanted to touch his thumb to the corner of her soft lips. And then he wants to slide his thumb inside her mouth, over the bite of her teeth and then to the smooth surface of her tongue. And just feel her sucking on the digit while—

"You okay there, pretty boy?" Clary sung out, flopping down onto the couch, squeezing in between Jace and some guy who was taking turns kissing girls who were perched on either one of his knees. "You look a little zoned out."

"Nah, I'm good," Jace smiled lazily at her, liking the way she was pressed right up against his side, one of her bare legs slung over his thigh.

"You having fun?" She asked, resting her head against the back of her couch, her lips parted and her eyes looking a little glazed. Jace watched as she blinked, long and slow, her eyelashes fluttering against her cheeks, and then she rolled her head so that he could look directly at him. "Hm?"

"You're stoned," he pointed out and she widened her eyes and dropped her mouth open as though in complete shock.

"What?! Really?! No way!" She then snorted and her shoulders shook a little and Jace rolled his eyes at her, not able to hide his smile. "You're just _so _observant, Jace."

"Yeah, yeah, you're real funny," Jace tried to sound upset, but he liked this side of her. Sure, she had this nice, kind side that came out when she was at home, but he liked that she was being all loose and relaxed even when she was without Isabelle, Max and Simon. Even though he knew it was the alcohol and weed, he could pretend that he was at least part of the reason. Clary smiled at him, before leaning forward and pulling open a drawer in the chipped coffee table in front of her. She must have been here a hundred times before, because she seemed to be able to find everything she was looking for quickly, pulling out a joint, and then reaching to open another drawer and pulling out a lighter. She held it up between them and raised an eyebrow.

"Want to go halves?" She asked him, a cheeky glint in her eye. It was as though she was daring him to say yes, like she thought he was going to say no.

"Sounds good," Jace answered with a smirk. He turned his body as best as he could on the tiny couch, tucking on leg up underneath him so that he could face her. Clary grinned back at him as she did the same, not caring that her skirt hitched up near the tops of her thighs and people behind Jace could probably see her underwear. She put the joint between her lips and then rasped her finger over the lighter, the paper at the end of the joint glowing red. She took in a deep breath, holding the smoke in her lungs as she pulled it out and held it out to Jace. He took it from her, their fingers brushing together, before putting it between his own lips and sucking in. She let out her stream of smoke from the corner of her mouth, and Jace watched transfixed as she licked her lips, knowing that her own eyes were glued to his mouth.

He took another puff before passing it back to her, shifting forward ever so slightly, so that their legs were now pressed together. She would have noticed the movement, but she didn't say anything as she sucked on the joint, and handed it back. This time when their fingers met, there was a definite pause, and Jace met her eyes. His whole body felt hot as their gazes connected, and for a moment he wondered if he should lean in, push their mouths together, but then she let go of the joint and slumped sideways against the couch, a lazy smile on her face. They passed the joint back and forth until Clary was bringing it to her mouth for the last puff. She held the smoke inside as she leaned back to the coffee table and stubbed out the joint, and then reached out for him. She hooked one finger in his collar and pulled him in close to her. Jace's stomach jumped into his throat as he realized what she was doing, her eyes never leaving his as their noses bumped together. Their lips brushed together, and she canted her head to the side, her pupils blown out as she blew out the smoke.

Their lips were were still touching, only just, and the smoke that escaped his mouth curled up and between them and around their faces. Clary's breath got caught in her throat as Jace put two of his fingers under her chin, keeping her face tilted toward his as he let out the smoke from the corners of his mouth and then pressed their mouths together, this time in a proper kiss.

And it was just as good as he had hoped it would be.

Maybe better.

It didn't last long, but Clary flicked her tongue out and it touched his upper lip, and Jace had to stop himself from letting out an embarrassingly loud groan. She tasted like bourbon and weed and salt, probably from the tequila shots that she was doing her earlier with Maia and a few other girls. Just the kiss alone was enough to send a shiver through him, and that was saying a lot for a guy who usually skipped the whole foreplay thing because he viewed it as pointless. He pulled away from her, the fingers that were under her chin moving backwards slightly to massage the smooth skin of her jaw. Clary's expression matched the one that he imagined he had on his own face, something like lust and shock, and then she pursed her lips together.

"Do you want to get out of here?" She asked, sounding surprisingly tentative.

"I, uh," Jace blinked at her, looking at the way she was nibbling down on her lower lip as though she was actually nervous about what his response was. "Yeah," he jerked his head in a nod. "Yeah." Clary's lips curved upward in a smile and then she jumped up from her spot on the couch, holding out her hands for him. Jace grinned as he grabbed her hands and got up. He was trying not to over think things as Clary dragged him between the people who were crowding the kitchen and the hallway. Her fingers were wrapped tightly around his, and Jace was more than happy for himself to be pulled along. Once they got out of the apartment, Clary pulled her hand away from his and folded her arms across her chest, still walking a couple of steps in front of him.

Jace wasn't sure if he was doing the right thing.

The vibe that she was giving off was that she was nervous, that she was regretting it.

But Clary never seemed like the type of person to do something that she didn't want to do, and she also didn't seem like the kind who got drunk and made rash decisions.

Then again, everyone did that at some point.

They started the walk home, a few steps away from each other. It was opposite to how they were on their way to the party, with their arms linked and joking around with each other, and it was definitely different from the way they were sitting next to each other on the couch. Jace wasn't too sure what he was meant to say to fill the silence, or if he even _should _be filling the silence, so he stayed quiet, and scuffed his shoes along the concrete. When they reached the girls place, Jace handed the key over to Clary and she unlocked the door, opening it and stepping inside, Jace following. He wasn't too sure what he was meant to do now, did he follow her up the stairs to her room? Or was that too presumptuous?

He settled for undoing his shoes at a snail slow pace as she took off the jacket that she seemed to have stolen from someone at the party. The quiet was a little awkward, and when Jace finally straightened up, Clary had his back to him and was walking toward the steps.

The crushing feeling in his chest was ridiculous.

So he wasn't going to get laid, and what?

He should be pissed off, not upset and wondering what he had done wrong.

Jace swallowed down the disappointment in his throat, trying to ignore the fact he was more worried about whether or not she was going to talk to him in the morning with the familiar way she had been treating him for the past week than the fact he didn't get to climb in bed with her.

He made a move for the lounge as Clary climbed up the first couple of steps.

"You're not coming?" She asked him softly, her voice breaking through the dead silence of the house. Jace's head snapped in her direction and he saw her giving him a small, hopeful smile that made his heart lift. He was crossing the distance between them in a heart beat, stepping up onto the bottom step so that he could reach her mouth without stretching too much, and then their lips were together again.

It started slow, their mouths learning one anothers movements. Jace was pretty sure he had never kissed someone without one of them pushing their tongues into the others mouth, but he liked this. Clary was still a few steps above him, so her neck was bent down so that they could meet. Jace reached up to put his hands on her hips, massaging her lightly through the material of her dress and Clary let out a sigh as one of his hands slid around to her ass and squeezed lightly. Her lips parted and Jace dipped his tongue into the warmth of her mouth, skimming over her teeth softly before meeting the press of her own tongue. She opened her mouth more, letting him lick into her mouth and making a noise in her throat that made Jace harden in his jeans. Her tongue rolled against his, and then her teeth nibbled down on his lower lip, taking turns between tugging on his lips and then soothing it with a languid swipe of her velvety tongue. They pulled away for a moment, taking in breaths, before Clary pressed another soft kiss to his mouth.

Clary's hands cupped his jaw, two of her fingers touching the hinge of his jaw and rubbing there gently before twisting her hand into his hair and pulling lightly. Jace had always had a thing for his hair being tugged and there was a little whine that escaped his mouth before he decided that the awkward gap between them was enough. He leaned forward, shifting his grip on her hips and then picking her up. She let out a surprised huff of a laugh, her hands grabbing onto his shoulders to balance herself.

"You drop me and I'll punch you in the nose," she told him in a voice that was probably meant to be stern but she was grinning, and there was a sparkle in her eyes.

"I promise I won't drop you," Jace smirked back at her as he carried her easily up the stairs. He had almost reached the top when Clary ducked her head and pressed her lips against the smooth curve of his neck. Jace sucked in a breath between clenched teeth as his steps faltered. Clary sensed how distracted he was, and she brushed her teeth against his collarbone before wriggling her body against his impatiently.

"C'mon," she murmured against his skin, which tasted intoxicating, a bit of a mixture of weed and the salty taste of sweat. "To my bedroom." Jace cleared his head enough for him to take the few more steps to her room, and then dropped down onto the bed. Clary bounced few times underneath him and she let out an adorable giggle as she gripped the collar of his shirt and pulled him down with her. Jace let her shift him around, laying out on her bed with his head on her pillow as she swung her leg over him so that she was straddling him.

Her scent was surrounding him, filling his nostrils and making him feel a little light headed as she shifted her knees up so that they were pressed against either side of his torso, crouched over him. Their lips came back together, and Jace gripped her ass, grinding her down against him, his whole body tensing at the friction the cradle of her legs was providing his cock. She tasted like the weed they had shared, and tequila, and the some kind of syrupy fruit juice which was probably mixed together with the alcohol she had been drinking. Her nails scraped up and down the side of his neck and he shivered as her long nails scratched at his scalp. She rolled her body against him, and when his fingers edged underneath the hem of her dress, pulling it up around her waist, he felt her body shudder over his. Just that simple movement alone, and the little gasp that left her perfect, spit-slick lips, made him deliriously needy for more of her, knowing that she wanted this, just as much as him.

"Jace..." she sighed out.

"You feel so good," Jace told her as he dipped his fingers underneath the elastic of her underwear, touching the smooth skin of her ass and unable to stop himself from digging his fingers in lightly. "You taste..." he nipped at her lower lip, teeth closing around it. "So good..." Clary let out a throaty moan. She pulled away from him, sitting up with her crotch pressed directly over his cock, and jerked her dress over her head, leaving her in only her underwear, her perfect tits on display. Jace couldn't stop himself from palming them both, rolling the nipples between his thumb and forefingers. She groaned, her back bowing almost violently, grinding her hips down harder on his cock. They both let out little whimpers as they practically dry humped each other while his fingers kept pulling at her nipples. She jerked her hips forward faster and faster, and Jace wondered if he was going to come in his pants, something that he hadn't done since he was a teenager. Jace dropped one of his hands from her breast and down her stomach.

He knew that they were going to have sex.

He was very aware of that—his whole body was _extremely _aware of that.

But he still felt a dip of nervousness in his stomach as he trailed his fingers down over her quivering stomach and then touched the damp heat that was soaked through her lace underwear. Jace squinted up at her in the dark, glad that the curtains were open on the other side of the room so that the moon provided enough light from him to make out her expression. He rubbed the tips of two of his fingers through the material directly over where her clit and felt a swell in his chest when Clary took in a shaky breath and tipped her head backwards up to look at the ceiling. Her reaction gave him the courage to keep going; pinching one of her nipples and circling her clit through the lace, and her pants filled the room as she thrusting her hips against his. He was so hard he knew that he was leaking and probably creating a wet spot in his briefs, maybe even his jeans.

"Oh, shit," Clary's movements were getting a little jerky and she dropped her hands to grip the shirt that was stretched over his chest. "Oh, shit, shit—Jace..." her whole body was shaking, and Clary felt her toes curling in an almost painful way as the pleasure starting coursing through her veins. She twisted her fingers into his shirt and pulled at it hard as she felt the heat in her stomach finally snap and unfurl and she let out a long whine. "Oh, god. Oh, god," the tremors ran through her violently as her hips slid forward once last time before she dropped down to bury her face in his neck. Jace wrapped his arms loosely around her body, stroking her back comfortingly until her breathing had evened out. Then she lifted her hair, pushing her hair away from her face with her hands so that she could kiss him slowly. Clary felt this strange warm feeling sinking into her bones as she shared breaths with him and he rubbed his nose gently against hers. They exchanged a few soft kisses before Clary opened her eyes and locked them onto Jace's. His own golden eyes were burning pools of desire and Clary's green orbs were sparking with lust.

They were silent as Clary caught his shirt with her fingers and pulled it over his head, and then shuffled down his legs to tug open his belt and zipper, and finally pushed down his jeans and briefs. Her knuckles brushed against his cock and the inside of his thighs as she pulled them off and threw them to the ground, and then settled herself back over him.

There was simultaneous sighs as they finally touched, skin on skin, the slick heat of her cunt rubbing against his leaking, throbbing cock.

Clary reached to the side, into the drawers of her bedside table, and pulled out a condom. She ripped it open and then sheathed him, balancing herself by putting her hands on his muscular shoulders, and then lowering herself onto him, her eyes never leaving his. Jace had to force himself to keep his eyes open because he didn't want to miss any of the micro-expressions flickering across her face. When he was finally seated completely inside of her, Clary let out a long sigh, her eyelashes kissing her cheeks as she adjusted to the intrusion.

How Jace managed to last as she began to ride him, he had no idea. She moved slowly but steadily, her breasts bouncing tantalizingly, her long hair falling around her shoulders and over her chest, her eyes fluttering shut every few seconds as he slid inside of her. She rolled her hips so that he touched that sweet spot inside of her, and she clenched her walls around him, making him groan and reach out and hold her hips.

Jace lifted his hips to meet her thrusts, tracing his lower lip with his tongue and feeling that familiar tightening in his chest that seemed to come when he was around Clary.

"I'm..." Clary's rhythm was starting to stutter and Jace began to massage circles on her hips, a small smile on his mouth. "I'm gonna..."

"Come on, baby," Jace murmured, the term of endearment just slipping out, and it didn't seem as though she minded at all. "Come for me." Clary let out a little squeak, and then Jace was took over, pushing up into her over and over again, until they were both spiralling.

_Happier authors note! I promise! A lot of people keep recommending _War of Hearts_ by Ruelle in the reviews. I do love Ruelle, and I love that song, although it's not my favourite by her. Thought that I would just recommend it though, since obviously lots of you guys love it! Other ones that I'm in love with at the moment _Ritual_ by Adam Jensen and _Rust_ by Stalgia. Also a cover of Justin Bieber's _Sorry_ by Our Last Night._

_Let me know what you guys are listening to! I want to know!_

_Also, there's been a few more questions about my updating schedule. It's on my profile, people. Check it out._

_Leave a review, make my day, and I'll send you a preview :) xx_


	17. Chapter 17

_So, it sounded like you guys enjoyed the last chapter! I'm glad. And I apologize for any mistakes made in this chapter. I'm really tired and just wanting to update this before I go to bed. _

Jace woke up the next morning, and for a moment, he had no idea where he was. He had been feeling that way quite a bit the past week, but he had finally adjusted to waking up on the couch of Clary and Isabelle's home. Except he wasn't on the couch now, he was in a room that he had only properly been in once and had then spent a lot of time thinking about being back in here, with the girl that the room belonged to.

Clary.

Clary...Jace's head whipped to the side, so quickly that he definitely regretted it afterward, and noted that he was alone in the bed. He swallowed hard, telling himself that there was a hundred different reasons as to why he was now alone in this room. She had gone to the bathroom, she had gone for a cigarette, she had gone to make breakfast, she had gone for a shower...Except the mattress was cold, and so she had clearly been gone for a while.

The whole room spun and Jace had to close his eyes, resting his head back against the pillow. There was a crushing feeling of disappointment pressing down on his chest, and he tried to tell himself that he was being stupid, because of course she wasn't there.

Clary had been open right from the start that she didn't do relationships.

That the most important men—and pretty much the only men—in her life were Simon and Max.

The way he had started to feel about her, he had known that it wasn't going to lead anywhere. Hell, he had just broken up with his fiancée, he definitely wasn't in any place to be getting into a relationship.

A one night stand was all he could probably emotionally handle right now.

And how many times had he done this himself? Disappeared before his lover for the night had woken up.

Clary had just taken the first step—the smart step, really.

So then why did he feel so shit?

Jace dragged himself out of bed, noting that his clothes were no longer strewn across the bedroom but laid out across the back of a chair in the corner of her room. He licked his lips nervously as he got dressed, his movements sluggish. He wasn't really hungover, and he definitely still wasn't affected from the weed they had smoked last night, but everything in his head just felt a little foggy. If he was going to be honest with himself, he could admit that it was because of the sex, because of Clary, but he really wasn't ready for that quite yet. So instead, he took in a deep breath through his nose and walked into the bathroom opposite her room. He couldn't hear any noise from downstairs, and there was a sinking feeling in his stomach at the thought of her actually being gone. Not just gone from the bedroom, but gone from the house itself.

He forced himself to brush his teeth and splash water on his face and then dragged his fingers through his hair before walked stiffly downstairs. Once he was down there, he could smell coffee, and his hopes were lifted as he walked toward the kitchen.

And then fell when he saw a dark haired girl in the kitchen with her back to him, pouring herself a cup of coffee. She heard him come into the room and turned around to see him, a small smile on her face. That small smile told him that she knew who he had thought she was, and that she knew what had happened last night. Well, maybe not all the details, but at least a fair idea.

"Do you want some coffee?" Isabelle asked, nodding over to where there was still half a pot of coffee sitting.

"Thanks," Jace mumbled, taking a seat at the the breakfast bar. Isabelle poured him a cup and then pushed it across toward him. "So, uh, is..." he didn't want to sound pathetic, but he had o ask. "Is she..."

"I'm sorry, Jace," Isabelle's small, sympathetic smile was back. Jace sighed and looked down in the dark liquid in his cup. She took in a deep breath, not to sure what to say, but in the end not needing to say anything because a sleeping looking Max walked into the room, rubbing his knuckles in his eyes. "What are you doing up, baby? I thought you were going to try and get a few more hours sleep?" Jace turned around in his chair and couldn't stop a smile. The movie marathon over at Simon's last night must have run pretty late, because Max's eyes were heavy and he was practically falling asleep on his feet as he stood in the doorway.

"You said that Jace was leaving today, mama," Max mumbled, his words all adorable and slurred as he looked over at where Jace was sitting. "And I didn't want him to leave before I could say goodbye." Jace's heart swelled at that, at the sight of the little boy struggling to keep his eyes open but with his lower lip stuck out determinedly.

"I would never have left without saying goodbye, Max," Jace said as he got off his bar stool and knelt in front the brown haired boy. "I promise."

"When are you going?" Max asked, waddling over to him, one hand tight around the teddy bear that Jace had seen him cling to when he was feeling particularly tired. Jace glanced back at Isabelle, who was also giving him a questioning look, and he turned back to Max.

"Probably soon," Jace admitted. "But I'll see you again soon. I promise."

"Okay," Max nodded and then flung his arms around Jace's neck. Jace swallowed hard and hugged the little boy back, taking in a deep breath at the second random emotional wave he felt roll over him. First waking up alone and second getting a hug from a kid.

He was getting soft.

"Thank you for letting me to stay with you, Max. And sharing your mama and your Aunty Rissa with me," Jace said as they pulled apart. Max was already trailing backwards, almost tripping over his feet, heading back towards the stairs to go up to his bedroom.

"That's okay, Uncle Jace," the little boy mumbled before practically crawling up the stairs.

And there was the third hit of emotions, right in the chest.

He stood up, clearing his throat as he turned around and blinking rapidly. Isabelle was smiling at him, her eyebrow raised fondly.

"You good?" She teased him lightly.

"I'm good," Jace replied. Isabelle's smile dropped as she walked over to him, putting her hand on his arm and squeezing lightly.

"I'll make sure I tell her that you said goodbye," she promised him.

"Thanks, Iz."

* * *

Clary had shown up at Simon's house a little after seven that morning, letting herself in with her spare key. Max had been fast asleep on the couch while Isabelle and Simon were elsewhere, undoubtedly in his room. She hadn't wanted to wake them up, so she had grabbed a spare blanket from the cupboard in the hallway and curled up on the arm chair next to the couch that Max was on, and had tried to go to asleep.

Unfortunately, two hours later, when Isabelle and Simon had gotten up and come out to the lounge and found her there, she hadn't managed to sleep a second. They had stood in the kitchen, drinking coffee and talking in hushed tones, before Isabelle had said that she would take Max home so that Clary could have some space. It was almost one in the afternoon now, and Clary had barely moved from the couch, staring blankly at the TV. Simon had been giving her space, cleaning up his apartment, doing some work at the kitchen table, making himself lunch, before finally deciding to try and talk to his foster sister.

"Do you want a drink?" Simon asked carefully. "Or something to eat?"

"Nah, I'm fine," Clary's voice was purposefully careless as she rolled over on the couch and furrowed her eyebrows as she stared at the TV screen. Simon pursed his lips as he watched her, standing in the doorway. Clary knew that he was watching her but she was pointedly ignoring him, even though she had absolutely no interest in the documentary that was playing on TV at the moment.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" Simon murmured.

"Nothing's wrong," Clary stated.

"Something's wrong," Simon shot back.

"I'm fine," Clary repeated her earlier sentiment.

"Okay, you're fine," Simon shrugged as he came over to sit down on the couch by her feet. "But something is still on your mind." Clary took in a deep breath through her nose, glancing down at him and shifting on the couch.

"Fine," she grumbled. "I'm gonna tell you, just to shut you up, but then I don't want to talk about it anymore." Simon tilted his head to the side, staying quiet and giving her space to talk when she was ready. "I slept with him." He knew that already, so he just nodded. "And I liked it." Simon raised an eyebrow at her and she groaned, covering her face with her hands. "I really liked it. I liked _him_."

* * *

"Well, it's good to see you back," Alec stated as he looked over at Jace, who was sitting on the expensive leather couch in Alec's apartment, feeling weirdly out of place after spending the past week on mismatched furniture and forever needing to move Max's toys out of the way, because he left them shoved down between the couch cushions. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," Jace told him, hoping that Alec didn't ask too many questions, because he wasn't quite ready to have a big discussion right now. He had driven back into the city, and instead of going back to his place, he had gone to Alec's. Alec hadn't said much as he had showered and then changed into a fresh set of clothes—he and Alec had always kept spare sets of clothes at each others places, and then they had both ended up in the lounge of the apartment, sitting on opposite sofas and looking at each other. "But, uh, I mean I broke up with Kaelie. It's your turn now," he gave a half smile.

"My turn?"

"Yeah," Jace nodded. "You need to tell your parents about Magnus." Alec stilled and he bit down on his lower lip. "I mean, if you're ready—"

"I don't know if I'm ever gonna feel ready, but—" Alec suddenly broke off as Jace undone one of the buttons of the shirt he was wearing, tugging open the neck. "Is that a hickey?!" Alec snapped and Jace's eyes went wide, grabbing the collar of his shirt and trying to pull it back up, but he didn't know where the hickey was, so he was doing a pretty bad job at trying to hide it.

"What? No, I—"

"That's a hickey, Jace!" Alec reached across and jerked the shirt back down again. "Please tell that was some random chick. Please tell me that you went and had some nameless one night stand and that's not from my sister or Clary." He actually looked physically pained as he waited for Jace's answer.

"Well," Jace stuck his tongue between his teeth and bit down, his cheeks a little flushed. "Uh, it wasn't your sister."

"Fuck!" Alec snapped, getting up from the couch and walking over to the windows. "You've got to be fucking kidding me, right?!" Jace winced as Alec huffed under his breath for a couple of minutes, crossing his arms over his chest. "Seriously, it's just—I just got back on good terms with my sister! And Clary's a massive part of that, and so if something has happened between you two to fuck that up..." Jace didn't really have anything to say because he honestly didn't know if the pair of them sleeping together was going to affect Alec and Isabelle's relationship. He definitely hadn't got that impression when he had spoken with Isabelle that morning, but then he had no idea what was going on in Clary's head right now, or how much she had told Isabelle. "And then Magnus wanted to talk to Clary about working at his club."

"What?" Jace's head jerked up at that. "At _Hypnotica_?"

"Yeah," Alec grunted.

"Oh, that's...Cool," Jace couldn't help the fact that his eyes had lit up a little at that. He had honestly already been thinking about when he was even going to get the chance to see her again, and if she got a job with Magnus, at his club, then there would be a whole lot more opportunities that when she was living on the other side of the city.

"Yeah, he really liked her. Liked her when she worked there that night, said her dancing was hot, but not trashy, like a lot of strippers dancers were when they stand in at the club," Alec muttered. "And he also just liked her. They apparently talked a couple of times that evening and then when we went over there for dinner. Said that she seems like the kind of girl who isn't going to get all caught up in the gossiping and drama of the place like a lot of his other dancers. Plus, him and Simon talked that night at dinner...Apparently she's pretty smart as well."

"So he was already thinking about this when he met her at that dinner?" Jace frowned.

"Magnus is a forward thinker," Alec shrugged.

"And what's her being smart got to do with her dancing?" He pressed, curious about what was going on.

"Shit, I don't know, Jace!" Alec growled as he spun around. "All I know is that if you've fucked this up—for me with Izzy or for Magnus with Clary—then I'm gonna cut off all that hair you spend hours in the mirror getting moussed up just right." Jace could tell by his threat that they were back in friendlier territory, but Alec still looked a bit annoyed. He got off the couch and walked over to his friend.

"I didn't mean to screw anything up, Alec," Jace said quietly. "Honest."

"Yeah, I know," Alec sighed, looking over at him. He clearly had a lot of things that he wanted to ask, but he held back. He took a deep breath and dug the toe of his shoes in the carpet. "So, you think I should tell my parents, huh?"

"I do," Jace wiggled his eyebrows. "I mean, if you're ready."

"So, since you've gone and done some really weird shit with your romantic relationships in the past week, you think I should go and do the same thing?" Alec raised an eyebrow back.

"Hey," Jace held up his hands, palm upwards. "At least you know that your dad isn't screwing your lover." Alec rolled his eyes at that.

"Yeah, well, there's that," he agreed. He took in a deep breath through his nose and ran his fingers through his thick, dark colored hair before abruptly nodding. "Okay," he hissed out.

"Wait—okay? As in, you will?!" Jace actually hadn't expected that.

"Yeah," Alec looked surprised at his agreement, just as much as Jace, but he nodded again, swallowing hard. "Yeah, I will."

"Shit," Jace was impressed. "Good on you. Do you, uh, do you want me to come with you? Or are you going to take Magnus? Or...What's the plan here?"

"Man, I literally just decided this two seconds ago. There is no plan," Alec rolled his eyes. Jace stayed quiet, letting his friend think. Alec took in a few deep breaths, walking over to the adjoining kitchen and opening up his fridge, pulling out a bottle of water and swallowing half of it back in one gulp. "I've got dinner with mum and dad tonight. I can...Talk to them then." Jace nodded as Alec screwed the lid back onto the water bottle and put it down on the counter top. He started drumming his fingers against the counter before letting out a groan. "How do I even start that conversation? What do I even say?"

"Uh...I'm sure there's a hundred different Youtube videos about it?" Jace suggested and Alec gave him a narrow look.

"Oh, thanks. You're bloody helpful," he said in a flat voice.

"Yeah, well, I can't really say that I've had all that much experience in the whole 'coming out as gay to my parent's' category," Jace rolled his eyes. Alec gave him a half-hearted glare but then sighed.

"You'll be here when I get back, right?" Alec murmured, looking more scared now than nervous. Jace frowned and leaned forward, gripping his shoulder and squeezing.

"Are you sure that you want it to be me that you come back to? It's not Magnus?" Jace asked.

"Magnus has work tonight," Alec replied. "And I don't want to...I don't want to call him and tell him what I'm about to do in case I back out at the last second."

"I get that," Jace murmured. "Okay, well, I already told my mum that I was coming over to see her tonight. She should probably know what's happened."

"Good idea," Alec nodded. "So we...We meet back here tonight, yeah? Around eleven?"

"Yeah, sounds good," Jace was still holding Alec's shoulder and he gave it another squeeze. "Hey, it's going to be fine. Well, I mean, it might fucking suck for a bit, but then it'll be fine. You and Magnus? You guys are great together. And you deserve to be able to hold hands and make out in public and all that over shit that couples in love should do." Alec cracked a smile and he nudged his arm against Jace's.

"You going soft on me there, Jace?"

"Maybe a little," Jace rolled his eyes.

* * *

Alec was back at the apartment by eight-thirty.

He had been sweating up a storm the whole way over to his parents, and in the end, he had just blurted the whole thing out before they had even finished their first course.

He had started drinking straight from the bottle of bourbon the moment he grabbed it from the glass cabinet next to his couch.

Jace still wasn't home, but that was to be expected. They had only left the apartment about an hour and a half ago, and the conversation that Jace was about to have with Celine wasn't exactly one that could be rushed. Celine would undoubtedly have a number of things that she would want to say about Stephen and also Kaelie, and she would possibly even want to storm over to one of their places and give them a piece of their mind.

Alec would be all for that.

Celine was a force to be reckoned with on the best of days, but when someone hurt the most precious person in the world, Alec had no doubt that there would be blood spilt.

Alec took in a deep breath as his eyes flicked back up the clock that was hung above the seventy-inch plasma TV that was bracketed on the wall. He can barely make out the time, given it's almost pitch black in his apartment and the only thing projecting any light is the appliances and the lights from nearby buildings coming in through the open curtains. It was now almost ten. He had been sitting on his couch with a bottle of bourbon, drinking by himself for over an hour now. What was worse, was he hadn't even finished his dinner before leaving, so his head was feeling a little scattered right now, drinking on an empty stomach.

Jace comes in a little after ten thirty, and maybe it was the fact that Alec was sitting in complete darkness, still dressed in the pressed pants and crisp button down shirt that he had worn to his parents for dinner, that makes Jace stop short.

"I think maybe we need pizza," he says into the darkness of the apartment.

"I think maybe you're right," Alec states, his tongue feeling clumsy in his mouth, his words coming out slurred.

"Shit," Jace grunts. "A lot of pizza."

"Yup," Alec lifts the bottle to his mouth and takes another long swig, abruptly stopping when he realized that there wasn't anything left. He makes a disappointed noise at the back of his throat as he shakes the bottle and then dumps it on the carpet. It had only been about a third of the way full when he had picked it up, but he was still surprised by how much he had had to drink. He vaguely heard Jace on the phone, calling a local pizza place that delivered and did the best gourmet pizza's around, and then his friend walked over to the cabinet and grabbed out another bottle of alcohol, coming over and collapsing on the couch right next to him. He had made no move to turn on the light, and Alec appreciated that.

"How did it go?" Jace asked after a couple of minutes, once they had both taken a swig of the new bottle.

"I'm not too sure," Alec answered honestly.

"You're not sure?" Jace was probably raising his eyebrows at him and giving him a bit of a weird look, but Alec couldn't make out his expression in the dark, and he wasn't looking in his direction.

"Yeah," Alec sighed as he accepted the bottle back from Jace. "Dad went really quiet, and put down his knife and fork and just kind of glared at me. Mum said that the spinach puffs smelt as though they were burning." Jace pressed his lips together, because this definitely wasn't a funny kind of situation, but the idea of Maryse having anything to do with anything in a kitchen was hilarious. That woman had probably never even made toast from scratch by herself before.

"And so then you left?" Jace asked. "You didn't think that maybe sticking around and waiting to hear what they said would be a good idea?"

"Mum actually got up to check on these imaginary spinach puffs," Alec muttered. "I didn't even know she knew where the kitchen was."

"And your dad?" Jace took the bourbon back.

"Just kept glaring," Alec sighed and dropped his head back against the cushions of the sofa.

"Did you..." Jace felt a little awkward, tapping his fingers against the slightly sticky glass of the bottle. "Did you ask them? Anything? Like...How they felt?"

"I told them that there was something that I wanted to tell them," Alec heaved in a deep breath. "And then I said that I'm in love. Dad looked a bit surprised and mum looked kinda happy. And then I said that I'm in love with a guy, and his name is Magnus, and he was amazing, and he worked at a club in town, and I think maybe I rambled on for a little bit, and then I just sort of...Stopped talking? That was when dad went all weird and mum started talking about the dinner."

"They would have just been processing it all, you know? I mean, it's a lot for them to take it—completely new information for them!"

"Well, not if they had been paying attention properly," Alec grumbled. Jace was at a loss for words and so they settled for silence, before Alec finally added, "When I said to dad that I thought it would be a good idea if I left, he said 'yes'."

"Huh?" Jace turned his head to look at him.

"He said 'yes'," Alec repeated. "He said yes, it'd be a good idea if I left." Jace heard the catch in Alec's throat and he reached over to rest his hand on his friends knee. They sit there like that in silence, until their pizza arrives.

_Oh my god, so I re-watched _What A Girl Wants_ in the weekend, it came up on my Netflix. Forgot how much I loved the movie. And—holy shit—I realized it came out thirteen years ago! I feel so old. I can't even remember the amount of times I watched it when I was about twelve or thirteen. I also had a massive crush on Oliver James, it was ridiculous. But he was just such a babe! And he had a guitar and a motorbike, which was just so cool when you were a teenager ;) Haha. Oh and a couple of songs from there which I'm in love with is _Half Life_ by Duncan Sheik and _Ride of Your Life_ the cover by Oliver James. _

_Also, side note, I'm thinking about a werewolf AU. Can you tell I've been reading too much _Teen Wolf_? Haha. But what's your thinking? Jace would be an Alpha and Clary would be human. What are your thoughts? _

_Please leave a review, and let me know what you think :) I'll send you a preview for a review :)_


	18. Chapter 18

_Thank you guys for the reviews, babes! On with the chapter :)_

Clary didn't get home until late, and by then, Isabelle had already gone to bed. She stayed up late on her laptop, watching one of the new episodes of _Hawaii Five-O_, which was one of her go-to mindless drama's that she binged on when she didn't want to to think. Isabelle would undoubtedly have questions in the morning, after she got back from dropping Max off at school, and neither of them had work until later on, Isabelle at ten, Clary in the early evening, so the conversation was going to happen.

She knew that it was going to happen anyway, although she would rather ignore it than bring it to the surface. That was generally the way she operated in situations like this.

When Clary woke up the next morning, she groggily heard Max's feet pattering up and down the hallway as he got his things ready to go to school. She fell back asleep, until there was a weight next to her on the mattress and the strong smell of coffee coming from a mug on her bedside table.

"It's too early for this, Izzy," Clary sighed as she slowly opened her eyes and looked at her friend.

"Yeah, well, we've both got work happening today, so we're going to do this now and we're going to fit it into the next—" the dark haired girl glanced down at her phone. "The next twenty minutes, because then I need to squeeze into that ridiculous black outfit for work." She scrunched up her nose at the idea, and Clary couldn't help but feel a rush of relief that Simon was going to be giving her friend a way out of the strip club soon. That was actually something that he had said he was going to talk to Isabelle about last night, and Clary wondered if she could use that to distract Isabelle.

"So, did Simon—"

"No," Isabelle held up a finger to cut Clary off, her eyes narrowed and a very specific expression on her pretty face that was usually reserved for when Max wasn't listening. "No, we're not changing topics here." Clary sighed and wiggled herself until she was in a seated position and she pulled her legs up to her chest, picking up her cup of coffee. "Now, what happened?"

"We had sex," Clary said bluntly, sipping at the cup of coffee that was made exactly the way she liked it. "Duh."

"Well, whoop-de-fuck, I gathered that much," Isabelle grunted.

"And then I had no idea how to deal with the fallout the next morning, so I escaped to Simon's," Clary mumbled into another mouthful of coffee. Isabelle narrowed her eyes but didn't say anything for a long few beats, purposefully giving time for Clary to expand, and she sighed. "It just felt different than it usually does," she huffed out.

"Because?" Isabelle prompted her with a pointed look.

"Because...?" Clary rolled her eyes. "Because—I don't know, it just...It just _did_, Iz." Isabelle was still staring at her and Clary scratched behind her ear, tugging at a strand of hair. Even though she had already admitted it out loud to Simon, the words still felt weird forming in her mouth. "Because maybe...Maybe I kind of like him, or something stupid."

"No shit," Isabelle stated bluntly and Clary blinked. "What, you think I'm fucking blind or something? You two have had this weird vibe between you the whole time. I don't quite get it, because you're so different, but then I've got a thing for a nerdy guy I would never have given a second glance a few years ago, so what can I say?" Clary still seemed to be stuck on the fact Isabelle was unsurprised by her earlier comment. Her friend sighed and reached out to push at a few messy strands of hair that were falling in front of her face. "Is it really such a bad thing?" She asked carefully.

"Well..." Clary narrowed her eyes and clenched her fingers around her coffee. "He's some rich kid who steals cars for fun, who recently got out of a very committed relationship because his fiancée was fucking his dad, and he has probably never had less than, what—several thousand dollars in his bank account?"

"So your problem is his money and his ex-girlfriend?" Isabelle summed up.

"Ex-_fiancée_," Clary corrected.

"Who's engagement was some sham because of a business deal between their fathers," Isabelle continued. "Look, I know Jace. I've known Jace all my life. And he's a good guy—"

"And yet when you got pregnant as a teenager and disowned by your family, he was nowhere to be seen?" Clary raised her eyebrows and Isabelle sighed.

"He was a teenager as well, Clary," Isabelle murmured. Clary pursed her lips together and didn't comment. "Look. I don't know what the fuck is going to happen with you two, but he's a great guy, underneath the mess that is his life and his family. So...When it happens again, maybe don't run from it?"

"That is _if_ it happens again," Clary pointed out. "I mean, we don't exactly run in the same social circles." The two girls fell quiet for a while, a comfortable quiet, Isabelle looking around the room while Clary drank her coffee. "I haven't seen Sebastian in ages," Clary said after a few minutes. "I mean, usually we see each other at least once a week, right? But, it's been, I don't know," she scrunched up her face and tilted her head to the side. "Like, over a month? I think? And I just haven't wanted to see him."

"He's an ass," Isabelle stated vehemently. "And if you're done with him, then I'm happy."

"He might be an ass, but he's also a total hottie and he's great in bed," Clary defended.

"He's still an ass, and you deserve better," Isabelle continued.

"What?" Clary snorted. "And you think that Jace is this '_better_' that I deserve?" Isabelle didn't reply straight away, and there was definite hesitance in her eyes as she lifted up her hand and tilted it from side to side.

"I honestly don't know," Isabelle finally breathed. "I mean, he never really had any proper relationships when we were younger. Which is totally normal for teenagers, you know, not to have any long term relationships. And then this one with this blonde bimbo, it's not really something to measure him against. But I do know that he's not a bad guy, and he's not a total ass, like Sebastian, so that's always a good starting point." Clary flashed a grin at her friend and rolled her eyes. "Just take the whole thing slow, I guess."

"I don't think there's any problems about rushing things," she muttered.

"You're saying this after you've already had sex?" Isabelle smirked. "You and I have very different definitions of not rushing things."

"Sex isn't a relationship," Clary sung out. "And if sex was a relationship, then I could be a very well off therapist, up there with the best of them." Isabelle rolled her eyes, but there was still a smile on her face. "But, honestly?" The grin dropped off the red heads face and she chewed down on her lower lip for a moment. "You know that a relationship isn't something that I'm after right now."

"But they can be so fun," Isabelle got a mushy look on her face that had been appearing more and more often when Simon was brought into conversation.

"Not all of us are disgusting and sappy like you and my brother," Clary curled her upper lip, but the fondness on her face was clear. "Anyway, I will take everything you have said under advisement. Can we leave it at that?" Isabelle nodded. "Okay, I love you. Now get your ass out of my room, because I've still got another hour or so of sleeping in to do."

* * *

Jace felt as though he had swallowed a whole beach worth of sand when he woke up the next morning. He hadn't even properly changed out of the clothes he had been wearing yesterday when he had gotten back from his mothers place, so the zipper of his pants was digging in uncomfortably and he was half tangled in the button down shirt he was wearing. There was ringing coming from the phone out by the door, indicating that it was the front desk trying to get in contact with him. He growled under his breath and rolled over on his mattress, fumbling for his phone and then squinting at the time. It was almost eleven in the morning, which explained why they assumed he would be awake since it was the middle of the week. He dragged himself out of bed, stumbling a little as he went. He was glad that he and Alec had at least had enough sense last night to close the curtains before they had crashed out or else the sun would feel as though it was piercing right into his brain.

"'Ello?" He grunted into the phone as he snatched it off the cradle and held it to his ear.

"Sorry to disturb you, Mr Wayland," came the voice of the woman down at the front desk. "But I've got a woman here who is asking for access to your penthouse." Jace frowned, mentally flipping through the possibilities of who it might be. They knew who Kaelie was, and the front desk and security had been given explicit instructions not to allow her into the building. It wouldn't be his mother, because she had authority to just come straight up. His heart beat a little faster at the possibility of it being Clary, although he didn't hold out to much hope for that. "It's a Mrs Lightwood."

"Oh," Jace blinked in surprise, rubbing the back of his neck and glancing over to where Alec was still passed out on the couch, and there was a mess of fast food boxes from their pizza, a couple half empty and sticky bottles of alcohol and empty tumblers. "Uh," he pursed his lips and then sighed. "Yeah, sure, let her up."

"Very good, Mr Wayland," the woman said and then the call was disconnected. Jace quickly hung up the phone and then walked over to the couch, shaking Alec's shoulder to wake up his friend. He felt a little nauseous as he moved around, picking up their rubbish to shove it into the kitchen, out of sight.

"What the fuck?" Alec grumbled, blinking over at Jace as the golden haired man picked up the multi-purpose remote and pressed the button to pull back the curtains on the ceiling to floor windows and sunlight was flooding inside. "Holy fuck!" Alec sounded like a dying man, rolling onto his stomach and shoving his face into the cushions. "What the fuck is going on, Jace?" Jace knew how bad his friend felt, because his head was throbbing and any kind of movement right now was making him feel like he needed to empty his stomach contents over the floor.

"Your mum is here," Jace said.

"What?!" Alec shot up on the couch and then winced, holding his head.

"Your mum is here," Jace repeated, walking into the kitchen with their two crystal tumblers from last night, putting them in the sink while pulling out two new glasses and filling them with water. "The front desk just called me, she's coming up now." Alec got off the couch, looking around for his shirt, which he must have pulled off last night.

"I'm so not equipped to deal with this right now," Alec groaned as Jace came back into the lounge and handed over one of the glasses of water. In one of the drawers under the coffee table there was a pack of painkillers, and Jace was just popping a couple out of their protective casing when the two boys heard the elevator sound at the front door.

"Well, put on your game face," Jace said under his breath as he handed two pills to Alec and threw back another two, swallowing it down with a mouthful of the cold water. It was going to take a few minutes for the pills to kick in, and he really hoped that Maryse hadn't come here to start a yelling match, because his brain just couldn't deal with that right now. He had lost track of how much they had drunk last night after the pizza had come. They hadn't really spoken, putting on Netflix and letting _Daredevil_ just run through it's episodes, not paying too much attention, but glad that they weren't sitting in silence.

"Fuck me," Alec groaned under his breath as he caught sight of Maryse now standing in the doorway, looking at the pair of them. She was dressed immaculately, as usual, in a tight black dress that ended just below the knee, a tailored jacket and a high heeled pair of shoes.

"Alec," Maryse's voice was tight as she glanced at her son, who was standing next to the couch, now with a shirt on. "Jace." Jace gave her an awkward nod, pursing his lips and looking to the side. It was far from the first time that Maryse had walked in on the two of them surrounded by alcohol and reeking of booze, in fact there had been times when there were questionable pills and practically naked girls there as well. But the whole thing just felt a little off after the confrontation that Alec had had last night.

"What do you want, mum?" Alec asked, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans, meeting her eyes even though all he really wanted to do was curl back up in a pitiful ball, nursing his head and feeling sorry for himself.

"I..." Maryse swallowed hard, scratching her head and looking around the room in a nervous way that was very unlike Maryse. "I'm just on my way to have a lunch with Keke, and I wanted to stop by and speak to you about last night." Alec stiffened and Jace took a half step closer to his friend, reaching out to touch Alec's elbow in a movement of comfort. "Jace, do you think you could—"

"Jace is staying," Alec interrupted her.

"Okay," Maryse wet her lips with her tongue and took another step into the room. "Your father went into his study last night after dinner, and then he went out to work before I got up in the morning, so we didn't really have time to discuss your...Your statement." Alec just stared at her levelly. "The truth is, I don't know what he's thinking about this. But...But me?" Maryse took a few more steps until she was just standing in front of the two men. "I'm not going to loose another child, Alec," her voice shook a little and Jace let his hand drop from where he was touching Alec, putting some space between them. "I've already lost my daughter, and along with her a nephew, and I'm not going to loose you as well." Alec's facial expressions shifted so many times in the matter of just a few seconds, before finally settling for confused but hopeful.

"You think...You're okay with this? With me being gay?" Alec asked hesitantly.

"I love you, Alec," Maryse murmured, the words sounding a little funny coming out of her mouth. In the whole time that Jace had known the Lightwoods, he didn't think he had ever heard Maryse or Robert say those words—to each other, or to their children. "I'm not saying this is something I'm completely...Completely fine with, but it's not something I can't become accustomed to." Jace wasn't too sure if that's what Alec wanted to hear. That his being gay was something that she needed to get _used_ to, but it was a start.

"I love you too, mum," Alec said quietly. Maryse actually looked as though she might cry, her eyes looking a bit watery, but she gave a delicate sniff and then lifted her hand to touch her perfectly styled hair. Suddenly she lunged forward and was wrapping Alec in a tight hug, her arms around his shoulders and then almost as soon as it had happened, she stepped backwards and her arms were straight at her side.

"Alright, well, I better be on my way," Maryse said shortly. "Goodbye," she spun on her heel and clicked her way back to the elevator. The two boys were still staring after her as the elevator doors slid shut, and then turned to look at each other.

"What. The. Fuck?" Jace breathed.

"I have no idea," Alec blinked.

"Are...Are you okay?" Jace asked, making an awkward face as he looked toward his friend.

"I...Think so?" Alec scrunched up his nose. "I'm not sure. I mean, that was weird, right?"

"But maybe weird in a right way?" Jace raised an eyebrow. "You know, except for the fact that she said you being into guys is something that she would have to become '_accustomed_' to." Alec sighed as he sat down on the couch and rested his elbows on his knees. "It's not something she needs to get used to, it's just you. There's nothing wrong with it, it's just you!" Jace's voice had risen a little and he winced as his brain squeezed painfully.

"I think that you're more wound up about her wording than me," Alec gave his friend a small smile.

"Yeah, well, that's what best friends are about, right?" Jace snorted. "I'm allowed to get pissed off on your behalf." Alec felt a rush of gratefulness in his chest toward Jace.

"Hey, uh," Alec lifted his chin to look up at Jace, who was standing in front of him. "You never told me how it went with your mum."

"Oh, well," Jace snorted as he turned around and slumped into the couch next to Alec and closed his eyes, feeling relief at not needing to face the brightness coming from the sun through the window. "You know Celine. She was completely prepared to go over to Stephen's and castrate him, and then go over to Kaelie's and shred her face with those ridiculously long nails of hers." Alec huffed out a laugh and grinned. "But I managed to talk her down from the ledge. I don't want to make a big thing about me and Kaelie, you know? I mean, it's over, but I don't want this to blow up and become dinner time gossip. I'm gonna have to talk to her again at some point, although I'm really not looking forward to that particular conversation."

"It's like you don't know Kaelie at all," Alec raised his eyebrows. "She'll find a way to twist this, make it about herself—"

"Well, I just hope that it's over with soon enough," Jace sighed, rubbing his thumb and forefinger over his forehead.

"What else did she say?" Alec pressed.

"After saying that she had two people on speed dial that she could enlist to get rid of their bodies, she calmed down a lot. She said that I had nothing to be ashamed of. She said to keep going to events, to keep going to shareholders meetings, hold my head high," Jace nodded. "And that's what I'll keep doing." A moment later, he felt Alec reach out and touch his arm, in a similar, comforting way to what Jace had done to Alec earlier. He gave his friend a smile before taking in a deep breath and closing his eyes again.

* * *

Magnus got out of the town car he had taken from the centre of the city to the outskirts, where Clary's work was. Alec had warned him that the club was seedy, and nothing like _Hypnotica_. Magnus paid a fare to get inside, which was nothing compared to the prices he was used to in the city, and then walked in. The place wasn't the worse Magnus had ever been to, but Alec had been right when he had said it was nothing like his own place of work. There were girls dancing on the raised stage in nothing more than a scrap of underwear, but none of them were Clary. He kept looking and then found the red head, talking to the girl who was working behin the bar. Magnus took a seat at one of the booths, mentally making a note that he was probably going to have to burn the leather pants he was wearing, because this place was highly unsanitary.

It didn't take Clary long to spot him, and her eyebrows lifted in surprise as she came over, her hips rolling sensually, but not in a slutty way that some of the other girls were moving, telling Magnus that he was right.

He was making the right decision here.

"This doesn't seem like your usual type of hang out," Clary cooed as she stopped in front of Magnus and braced one arm on her hip. He glanced her up and down, the tight silver and black dress she was wearing. Usually when a guy looked at her like that it was because he wanted to get in her panties, but she knew that was the exact opposite of what Magnus could want, and so the look didn't particularly bother her.

"Yeah, well, I had incentive to come down," Magnus smirked up at her.

"I knew there was something between us," Clary teased him as she stepped closer so that their knees were touching. "You really need to stop leading on poor Alec so we can elope together."

"We would make one hell of a pair," Magnus agreed.

"Fuck yeah, we would," Clary laughed, tossing her hair over her shoulder.

"Too bad I love dick so much," Magnus interjected.

"Eh, well, the perfect ones always do," she winked at him. There was the sound of someone clearing their throat and Clary glanced to the side, probably over at her boss because Clary leaned forward and rested a hand on his shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "Well, babe, I've gotta get back to work. Was there something you wanted or you just miss my charming smile that much?"

"Actually," Magnus leaned forward, his face close to hers to look as though Clary was giving him exactly what he wanted to stop her from getting in trouble with her boss again. Clary seemed to get the idea because she sat on his lap, straddling his legs and resting her arms across his shoulders, rolling her hips forward ever so slightly. Her ass was resting quite far back on his thighs, not resting over his crotch like she usually would with men she was dancing for. "I'm here to offer you a job." Her movements faltered and she frowned at him.

"What?" She asked bluntly. Magnus rested his hands on her hips, shooting a look over her shoulder to make sure no one was nearby to hear them.

"I want you to come and work for me," he said, keeping his voice quiet enough that her boss or colleagues wouldn't hear, but loud enough that she could hear over the music that was playing. She was still frowning at him, which he had fully expected. "Okay, I get that you're gonna have a bunch of questions and things you're not sure about, so I'm going to pitch it to you, and then let you think about it, okay?"

"Mm," Clary sounded hesitant but gave a short nod.

"I want you to come and work as a hostess at _Hypnotica_, where you danced that night we met," Magnus told her. "Camille, my boss, is going to open up a new club, a second burlesque club. She wants me to take over at _Hypnotica_, since I'm already second in charge. She's going to be taking a couple of the dancers as well as the hostess, and I want you to replace her."

"Did Jace put you up to this?" Clary suddenly asked, looking suspicious. "Because you don't know me. And this sounds like a pretty cushy job for a stripper." Magnus looked confused about her first question, but his eyes softened at the second statement.

"No, it's got nothing to do with Jace, although we'll revisit later why you think he'd be doing you a favor," there was a twinkle in his eye that hinted to Clary he knew exactly why she thought Jace had something to do with it. "Look, you strike me as the kind of girl who's not going to get dragged into the ridiculous, pissy drama that happens with the other girls, and someone that I can trust. And even though I know I'm fucking awesome, I'm going to need someone to help me, because taking over as manager is going to be hard. Alec trusts you, and that tells me I can trust you." Clary was chewing down on her bottom lip and Magnus really had no idea what she was thinking, her facial expression was trained in a blank slate. "Look, I'm willing to offer a travel allowance and—"

"What do you mean 'hostess'? I'm a dancer. I never even finished school," Clary muttered.

"Yeah, well, I'm assuming that you can take money and look hot at the door. Plus, I know that you'll be able to be the perfect mixture of sexy but terrifying when it comes to difficult customers. We can work the details and shit out later," Magnus said.

"If I take the job," Clary arched her eyebrow.

"If you take the job," Magnus agreed. "Although I hope you do." Clary pursed her lips as she stood up, swinging her leg off him and giving him a tight smile that he once again couldn't read.

"I'll think about," she murmured. "I'll see you around, Magnus."

_So me and the hubby have been on a total Disney binge the past week or so. We've gone through _Treasure Planet, Mulan, Pocahontas, Zootopia_ and _Lion King_. Yeah, we may be in our twenties, but you're never fucking too old for Disney! My hubby's favourite Disney song is _Circle of Life_ from Lion King, and mine is _Colours of the Wind_ from Pocahontas, very closely followed by _Two Worlds_ from Tarzan. Tell me, tell me yours :)_

_Also, I'm re-watching _Numb3rs_ right from season one. I used to absolutely love this show—it's still absolutely awesome. Charlie is adorable in the shy, nerdy way, and then Don is hot in the surly, mutter-mutter glare way. LOL._

_Anyway! Leave a review, let me know what you think :)_

_I'll send out a preview for all logged in reviews xx_


	19. Chapter 19

_A first of the month update! Look at that! Now, I was requested by lovely reviewers to have this updated by the fifth of the month for their birthday, an early update for this month. So here we go, _Delranangel, _hope you enjoy it! And a big happy birthday :)_

_Just before heading in, quite a few of you guys have asked for my name for Facebook and Snapchat and tumblr (although I'm barely ever on there). And that's totally fine, I love meeting you guys on there and it's so much easier and talk via PM and shit. But you need to tell me your name, because if you add me and we have no mutual friends, I'm just gonna leave you chilling in the limbo section. Haha. So just make sure you're telling me your name as well :)_

"I have something I need to talk to you about," Isabelle announced when Clary got home that night, just before twelve. Usually she didn't wait up for Clary, so that she was probably rested an ready to wake up with Max in the morning when he needed to go to school.

"Funny," Clary sighed, feeling tired and ready for a shower but seeing the serious expression on Isabelle's face. "I've got something I need to talk to you about as well."

"Me first," Isabelle looked nervous, biting down on her lips and nervously playing with her fingers. "Okay, so...Simon offered me this job." Clary froze for a second, quickly schooling her expression into surprise and joy for her friend, pretending that she didn't know about the job offer before this moment.

"Oh my god!" She exclaimed. "That's so awesome!" Isabelle narrowed her eyes and then rolled them.

"Wait, you knew?" Isabelle raised her eyebrows and Clary tried to keep her eyes wide in surprise for a few more seconds, but Isabelle knowing expression wore her down and she let out a sigh.

"Fine, yes, I knew," she admitted.

"Why didn't you tell me?!" Isabelle cried.

"Because this was Simon's moment!" Clary gave her friend a smile and nudged in her in the side. "Come on, tell me that you haven't promised him a hundred appreciation blow jobs because of this opportunity," she teased and Isabelle's cheeks reddened.

"You're gross, that makes it sound as though I'm paying him in sex for this," she whined and Clary just laughed, throwing her arms around Isabelle's shoulders and pulling her in close to her, hugging her tight. Isabelle hugged her back and when they pulled apart, there was a wide smile on the girls face. "It's going to be amazing. It's..." Isabelle took in a shaky breath. "It's the kind of opportunity I didn't think I would ever get, you know? I mean, I know it's not all that elegant and amazing, but it's a steady job, with benefits, and annual leave allowances, and I can actually wear clothes that cover my ass! After getting pregnant and leaving my parents." Clary watched as Isabelle's lower lip wobbled slightly. "It's just...I thought that maybe if I saved enough I could go to night school or something, but everything is so fucking expensive when you're working a minimum wage job, and I didn't want to spend any extra time away from Max than I have to, and—"

"Izzy!" Clary interrupted the barrage of words and put her hands on Isabelle's shoulders. "You don't have to explain anything to me, okay?" Isabelle halted her tirade and blinked at Clary. "You deserve this. You and Max deserve this. And you're going to do great, and Max is going to be proud, and I'm already so proud, and Simon is as well." Isabelle's eyes teared up a little and she lunged forward to hug her again. "I'm so happy for you," Clary's voice was intense with sincerity as she tightened her arms around Isabelle.

"Yeah, yeah," Isabelle gave a rueful laugh before the two stepped apart again. "Uh," she swiped her hand across her face and sniffed. "Anyway, you said that you had something you wanted to talk about as well?" Clary looked confused for a moment and then let out a laugh.

"Oh, yeah. Right," she bit down on her lower lip before raising her eyebrows and trying to use a tone that said she wasn't too excited about the news she had to share. "Um, I got offered a job as well."

"What? Where?!" Isabelle exclaimed.

"Uh, it was by Magnus—you know, Alec's boyfriend. Coz he runs that club that I danced at when I was filling in the other week?" Clary attempted to give a non-interested shrug. "I don't really know if I should, because it's in the middle of the city and the job description he gave me was kind of vague, and I'm worried that it might make shit awkward with me and Jace and all that, and, well, yeah..." she trailed off, waiting for Isabelle's comment.

"Oh, come on, Clary!" Isabelle tilted her head to the side. "This could be an opportunity for you as well!"

"I'll still be a stripper!" Clary protested.

"Well, maybe, but..." Isabelle sighed. "I mean, you said this place was high end, right?" Clary nodded hesitantly. "So at least it'll be classier. And you said you really liked dancing there last time!"

"What if it was Jace, though?" Clary murmured tentatively. "What if he's the one that put Magnus up to this?"

"Is that what you're really worried about?" Isabelle asked. "Because you think that he has something to do with Magnus offering you the job?" Clary cringed, making a face. "Look, I don't know Magnus, but I know my brother. And if Alec thought that Jace was trying to get his boyfriend to do something to help him get laid again, Alec would tell him to shove it. And Magnus seemed to really like you, when he came over for dinner, so I think that it's an honest offer." Clary still didn't look convinced. "Look, you don't have to take the job, even though I think you should, but you should still talk to him about it, find out what he properly wants you to do."

"Okay," she muttered. "I'll talk to him."

"Good!" Isabelle grinned and nudged her in the arm. "Now, I think we should celebrate our new employment—"

"You're new employment," Clary corrected her. "My possible new employment."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Isabelle rolled her eyes. "Anyway, because I had something to celebrate, I might have splurged a little bit." Clary followed Isabelle into the kitchen, and sat down at the breakfast bar while Isabelle went to the fridge and opened it up. It must have been something that she had hidden right at the back, away from prying eyes of Max, and then she turned around with a white box.

"Is that _Sunflower Gold_?" Clary asked with wide eyes.

"Fuck yeah it's _Sunflower Gold_," Isabelle grinned, her eyes going wide as she put the box down on the breakfast bar between them. Clary leaned in and opened up the box and let out a long groan that could described as orgasmic.

"Oh you beautiful, beautiful woman," Clary sighed as she looked at the two immaculately decorated cupcakes inside. They were their favorite flavors, Berry Delight for Isabelle and Lemon Delight for Clary. Clary couldn't remember the last time they had had Sunflower Gold, given how expensive the cupcakes were each, they were definitely something they reserved only for special occasions. "I was being serious before though," Clary pointed out as she picked up one of the cupcakes and started peeling back the paper around the outside. "About the blow jobs for Simon? I mean, I'm sure he'll enjoy the cupcakes, but I think he'd appreciate the blow jobs more."

"You're fucking terrible," Isabelle huffed fondly as she picked up her cupcake and bit into it, getting red icing around her lips and making Clary snort out a laugh. They finished their cupcakes in relative quiet, apart from the occasion hum of contentment, and once they were done, Isabelle put way their rubbish. "I should probably head upstairs, it's late."

"I don't have work until later on tomorrow, think I'm going to stay up for a while," Clary replied, nodding toward the lounge.

"Okay," Isabelle started toward the door, but hesitated when she reached the doorway. "I was serious about that job, Clare. Make sure you think about it. I really don't think Jace would overstep like that. But you know what, even if he was? He was probably just trying to help. And there's no way Magnus would offer you a job in a club that he helps to run if he didn't think that you were right for the job." Clary made a non-committal noise under her breath as she picked up her handbag and dug around her bag for her pack of cigarettes. "No, Clary. You gotta promise me you'll think about it."

"Fine," Clary rolled her eyes as she found her cigarettes and her lighter. "I promise." Isabelle gave her another bright smile and then skipped upstairs. Clary smiled fondly after her, glad how much the news of the job had lit her up.

She still wasn't too sure how she felt about the offer, but she would think about it.

And then there was Jace to think about.

It had been a couple of days now, and she still had no idea where her head was at when it came to the golden haired boy.

"Fuck," Clary groaned, wishing that there were more cupcakes, and settling for a cigarette instead.

* * *

Clary started work in the evening, so that gave her enough time to make a trip in central city. The bus was horrible, and she screwed up her nose at every loud scream that came from the babies that were on their mothers laps and the disgusting sloppy noises coming from the teenage couple in front of her. It wasn't too expensive to get the bus into the city, but it definitely took a while, with all the stops between where she was and at the closest stop she could find near _Hypnotica_.

Clary had been stupid enough not to ask for his number before he had left the strip club yesterday. But Isabelle had been more than willing to give her Alec's number when Clary had mumbled over coffee that morning that she was going to go and talk to Magnus about the job, and Clary had text Alec, asking where she could meet up with Magnus. Alec hadn't asked any questions, so she was assuming he knew why she was asking after his boyfriend. Alec had said that he was working from ten onwards, going over the book work and figures. So she had gotten dressed and dragged her ass out of the house even though she had been up late the night before and she was going to be up late that night as well.

A couple of girls in leggings and loose singlets or hoodies were walking into _Hypnotica_, chattering among themselves, and Clary paused outside. The entrance way looked different from how it looked at night, the large glass doors all shut, the tinted windows not giving any hint to what was inside. Clary put her hand on the fancy metal door handle and tugged at it, and the heavy door creaked open.

"Uh, who are you?" One of the girls turned around and looked her up and down quizzically.

"Are you new?" The second girl asked, this one looking a lot more unfriendly than the first girl.

"We're not open," the third girl looked just plain confused, big blue eyes wide and vacant. "You know that, right?" Clearly she had been hired for her dance moves and pretty face, nothing to do with her brain. "We're a club, we're only open at night." Clary was staring at the blonde, her eyebrows furrowed, wondering if she would just keep on talking in that cotton puff voice that made her sound like a stereotypical blonde bimbo.

"I'm here to see Magnus," Clary said bluntly. "I was told he was here." The second girl, with a mean sneer on her mouth, crossed her arms over her chest.

"We're not having try outs today. This is a closed practice," she stated. That would explain the leggings and the loose shirts, they were obviously practicing routines.

"I'm not here to shake my ass," Clary rolled her eyes, steadily loosing patience. "Look, can you point me in the direction of Magnus? I really don't have all day—"

"Sweetie!" Magnus crowed, suddenly appearing in the doorway that lead through into the main expanse of the club. All four girls lifted their eyes to look at him, and the Indonesian man frowned when he saw that three of the dancers were still standing in the hallway. "You three are late for practice," he scolded, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. "Get." They all scuttled inside, the second girl shooting one last glare over her shoulder toward Clary, before she disappeared inside. Magnus turned his attention back to Clary, tilting his head to the side and lifting his eyebrows. "Sorry about them. The angry one who had the stick up her ass is Lydia, she doesn't like anyone knew. The vacant looking one is Tandi and the other one was Cleo." Clary just shrugged. "Now, I really didn't think that I would see you so soon—not that it's a bad thing. Just...I hope that if you're here, you haven't come to the quick decision to say no."

"Well..." Clary stepped closer to him, hooking her thumbs into the pockets of her grey cardigan. "My first instinct was to say no. But I thought that maybe I should talk to you about it first."

"I appreciate that, babe," Magnus nodded. "Come on, we'll go into my office." Clary followed after him. They went through the main club, which looked quite different from when Clary was here last time, muted yellow lights glowing in the room from lamps rather than from the massive chandeliers that hung from the ceiling. All the chairs and the tables were folded up and stacked in the corners of the room so that the room was mostly bare, where the girls were practicing. There were about nine girls there, all of them in similar clothes, and there eyes were focused on an a gorgeous tall woman in a leotard and a baggy shirt. "Through here," Magnus lead Clary into the back part of the building where she had gotten dressed the first time she had been here, except they continued past the dressing room.

"This is nice," Clary lifted her eyebrows as they stepped into his office, next to Camille's. It suited Magnus; one large leather seat behind the mahogany table and two seats opposite it, half sewn dresses—all glittery and bright colors—thrown over the couch in the corner, and big colorful pictures on the walls.

"So?" Magnus sat down on the corner of his table and nodded for her to take a seat. "What do you want to talk about?"

"First of all, why did you offer me the job?" Clary asked steadily, not taking a seat, preferring to stand so that she could meet his gaze. "You said that it was because you trusted me, but come on. You barely know me. All I am is a girl you've met a couple of time who works at a sleazy strip joint."

"Well, I can tell you that it's got nothing to do with Jace, which you seemed to think the other day," Magnus smirked a little. "And don't think I've forgotten you mentioning that, because I will want to know why you think that Jace cares enough to try and get me to offer you a job." Clary hoped that Magnus didn't see the pink tinge on her cheeks. "I told you the reason. Camille is in charge at the moment, and I'm her go-to person. She starting up another club, and handing the reigns of this place over to me. That's a huge deal for me, and I want someone at my side."

"And, once again, you're going to choose a girl you've met a couple of times?" Clary still looked disbelieving.

"I've been hearing about you for a long time," Magnus replied steadily. There was something in his expression that shifted, becoming more stern, as though he needed her to understand how serious he was. "Alec has talked about you for years. I know that he comes off as cold when you two are together, because you're both so careful with your hearts, but he really cares about you and he always has good things to say about you." Clary pressed her lips together at that, knowing that Alec appreciated the way she had looked after his sister and nephew, but not aware of how much he had spoken of her. "And when you danced here for the first time, I had no idea who you were. You were gorgeous and funny, and you're an incredible dancer. Admittedly, a lot of the girls that we have working here have some background in dance training, so you're a little rough around the edges. But I don't want you to be here as a dancer."

"You said something about a hostess job?" Clary crinkled up her nose. "I'm not a...A people person? Isn't that what a hostess is meant to do?" She tossed her hair over her shoulder. "And, what, I'm just meant to stand at the door all night? My gig at the moment might not be great, but at least it's not boring."

"You'd be on the door for part of the night, but not the whole time," Magnus reasoned with her. "You'll be helping me manage the girls throughout the evening, the bar staff, closing up afterwards as well. We've got an accountant who manages all the books and the pay and things like that, but at the end of the night I always count the tills and match up the debit machine."

"Right, okay, that brings me around to the second question. How do you know I'm good with money? And math? And all that shit that comes with accounts? Because I dropped out of school when I was fifteen," Clary snorted.

"Alec tells me everything. That includes everything that Isabelle tells him," Magnus said. "And even though he and Isabelle are nowhere near as close as they were when they were younger, there's still somethings that she'll tell him, even if she doesn't understand the importance." Clary looked confused, lifting an eyebrow. "She told Alec that you dropped out at fifteen, but while you were at school, you skipped a year. And that you helped your brother, Simon? Simon, right—Isabelle's boy toy? That you helped him when he was going through University." Clary dropped her head and gave a one shouldered shrug.

"Okay..." she touched her lower lip with her tongue thoughtfully.

"Was there a third thing?" Magnus asked.

"Yup," she looked back up at him and there was a sparkle in her eye. "There is no fucking way that I'm going to take the bus every time I come into work. For one, it's not safe, especially if I'm going to be going back at crazy hours of the morning. And second, it's disgusting—"

"You caught the bus in today?" Magnus looked horrified, his eyes wide.

"Yup," Clary screwed up her nose.

"Oh, you poor thing," Magnus exhaled heavily, and Clary bit back a laugh at his overly dramatic reaction. "We can arrange a travel allowance, that won't be a problem." Clary nodded, the smile on her face quickly dropping as she realized how serious this discussion was. While her job at the moment wasn't great, she was one of the best dancers there, and the boss wasn't going to let her go. It wasn't the dream job, but it was secure. Changing jobs—coming here, it was a risk, and that was scary.

"I don't know," Clary breathed. "It's a big decision. I know changing jobs may not seem like such a big thing to some people, but there's a lot involved here for me, Isabelle and Max—I have to think about them as well." Magnus pushed off the desk and closed the distance between them, reaching out and putting his hands on her shoulders.

"I promise that I'll look after you, biscuit," he said in a low, comforting voice. "I didn't always have this great job, an amazing apartment and an incredible boyfriend. I started with barely anything and I just needed someone to take a chance on me. That was Camille," he gave her a smile and Clary arched an eyebrow.

"And you're going to do that for me?"

"I think you're worth it," Magnus's grin widened and Clary couldn't stop her own in response.

* * *

"Shit! How many outfits did you get?!" Clary exclaimed as she took in the bags that Simon and Isabelle struggled to pile onto the couch.

"Bad words, Aunty Rissa," Max mumbled from where he was sleepily curled up next to her. It was almost eight o'clock, but he had been determined to stay up late until his mother had gotten home. After the two girls had finished work for the day, Simon had come over and announced that he was taking Isabelle out shopping for clothes. Her job at the law office was going to be starting in two weeks, a few days after she stopped working at the club. She had handed in her notice the day after Simon had offered her the job. Usually there would be a whole hiring process, she would need to go through interviews and questions, but Simon's boss wanted to hire someone now, and didn't want to go through the whole fuss.

So Isabelle had the job.

A job that required a whole different wardrobe than what the club required.

"So you ready to look all bland and boring in your office wear?" Clary teased as she took in the names of the stores that the two had been shopping at.

"As if Izzy could ever look bland or boring," Simon said as he wrapped an arm around the girls waist and smushed a kiss into her cheek, Isabelle letting out a giggle. Clary rolled her eyes at the pair of the and snuggled under the blanket that was thrown over her and Max. "And you're going to take that job in the city?" Simon turned his attention to his foster sister.

"I think I am," Clary nodded slowly. It had been a few days since she had gone to _Hypnotica_ and spoken with Magnus, and he had been sending her texts everyday, mainly with bribes to try and make her say 'yes'. If it was someone else, she would find it annoying, but Magnus was just hilarious. He had even resorted to saying he would buy her a dozen red roses every shift and give her neck massages.

"I'm so proud of you," Simon smiled widely at the red head, who smiled back at him. "At both of you," he leaned back in to kiss Isabelle, the kiss quickly becoming sloppy as Isabelle turned and wrapped her arms around him. Clary and Max scrunched up their noses and turned to look at each other.

"Ew," they agreed simultaneously.

_Okay! Now a couple of things. First things first; songs I'm addicted to at the moment. _Bubblegum Bitch_ by Marina and the Diamonds. I watched a fanvid for Lydia Martin (who's a queen, btw) and I heard the song on there and I'm now completely in love. Then there is _Closer_ by Chainsmokers and Halsey, _Gravel to Temple_ by Hayley Kiyoko and _Homeostasis_ by Nostalghia._

_The next thing is; either _Without A Clue_ or _Feet First, Don't Fall_ is going to become one of my stories that gets updated twice a month. Which one would you guys prefer? _

_And then lastly—I'm so sorry, there's so many!—one of the new stories that I'm working on is going to be one where they're all pretty much tattooed. So my question to you guys is do you guys have any suggestions for tattoo's? I've got quite a few ideas, but I decided I'd open it up to you guys, get your ideas. We've got our usual; Clary, Jace, Isabelle, Simon, Magnus and Alec, but then there's also Raphael and Kaelie. So let me know, and the meaning behind the tattoo or what it could possibly stand for, and I'll note it down and might include it :)_

_That's everything!_

_So leave a review, let me know your ideas, thoughts, suggestions, etc etc!_

_Love you all :) xx_


	20. Chapter 20

_I'm sorry for any errors, I've had a crappy week and today has just been terrible, and I'm going to bed as soon as I post these updates. _

Six weeks went by, and they were some of the fastest weeks of Clary's life. Mainly that was because it felt like she hardly ever had any downtime, ad everything was just moving in absolutely fast forward, a flurry of new events.

Isabelle had started her new job, which meant Simon picking her and Max up in the morning, dropping Max off at school and then heading straight toward the office. Just after three, Isabelle had come to an agreement with her new boss that she could take Simon's car to pick Max up from school and then bring him back to the office. He would sit in the break room and watch TV and do home work until five, when it was time for them to head home. The steady pay cheque that came from answering phones and filing papers and sending out memo's and being allowed t o wear clothes that she was actually okay with her son seeing her in removed this weight from Isabelle and Clary's shoulders that they had never realized was so heavy. The strip club had paid reasonably well, but Isabelle's hours could quite often vary as a bartender, given she refused to get on the stage and sometimes she had to swap out her shifts because something had come up with Max.

And then there was Clary.

She had accepted the job with Magnus, but she hadn't been able to completely let the job at the strip club go. Not because she enjoyed it, because there wasn't really anyone who enjoyed getting groped and rubbed by sweaty men, but because there was still this nervous part of her that said this job with Magnus not work out. So she kept two nights a week at the strip club, and spent four in the middle of the city.

Working at _Hypnotica_ was a completely different experience. Even when she had just danced and served drinks there that one night, she had known it was a whole different scene from what she was used to, but being immersed in it on a weekly basis just showed how much different.

And what was expected of her was different.

Magnus wasn't anything like her boss or the supervisors who worked under him at the strip club. He was respectful and funny and he made sure that she was supported every step of the way through the few weeks when she was training, and then as she started to go out on her own. He got on well with the other dancers and bartenders, and he definitely got on well with Camille—it seemed as though they sort of had a younger brother-older sister relationship going on. But there was this fondness that he got in his eyes when he was with Clary that never seemed to be there when he was around the others, and she liked that.

The first three weeks had been training, mainly shadowing the previous hostess who was leaving with Camille. It was relatively simple, taking the fee from customers as they entered the establishment and ushering them inside. There was always at least one bouncer nearby who made sure customers didn't get too handsy on their way in or out, but the clientele was a lot easier to manage than what she was used to. At around eleven, the doors would officially close for new entry's and she would go inside to find Magnus. He would let her know what he needed from her then, maybe to show some special attention to a table with a particularly wealthy group of men, maybe help wait on tables, maybe go backstage to help girls with their costumes, or once she even helped tend bar. Sometimes if everything was running smoothly, she would just stand with Magnus while he oversaw things, and they would talk easily, making fun of some of the customers who had ridiculous plastic surgery work under their breath.

Another plus was what she got to wear.

From when she had worked there previously, she knew that the costumes were nicer and not quite as whorish as what she wore at the strip club. Not to say that they weren't as revealing, the dancers on stage definitely stripped right down to barely anything, a couple of scenes even getting them down to absolutely nothing, their silhouette's lit up behind see through curtains. But Clary wasn't hired there as a dancer, and the costumes that she wore each night were gorgeous, and sexy, rather than cheap and tacky.

Camille had handed the reigns of club _Hypnotica_ over to Magnus one week ago, her sights completely focused on getting Mirage ready to open, her latest investment. Things had been smoothly operating, just as they had been before they left, although Clary had been pulling some longer hours to help Magnus. While everything was working fine while the club was open, Magnus had still taken on a lot of responsibility and Clary was doing everything she could to help. Alec was also stopping by most nights, even if it was just for an hour or so, to show his support, and Clary had to admit, the two of them together were about as tooth-rottingly sweet as Simon and Isabelle.

The late nights had meant that Clary had actually spent a couple of them at Magnus', the pair of them not getting out until almost four, and not seeing much point in her taking a cab all the way back home if she was just going to be coming back at three the next afternoon.

Everything was working out in a way that seemed to good to hope for, but Clary was ignoring that niggling voice in the back of her head that told her it was going to implode on her. She was just concentrating on what was going on in here and now, and trying not to worry about what might happen going forward.

The past six weeks had possibly felt like the _longest_ six weeks of _Jace's_ life.

Things had been horrible the first few meetings that he had gone to after coming back into the city. There were at least ten other men in the conference room in each shareholder and investment meeting other than he and his father, but Jace had barely been able to process anyone else. All he could do was stare at Stephen, remembering walking in on him and Kaelie sprawled out on the desk.

He wasn't jealous. He knew that for a fact, because he barely even thought about Kaelie.

He was just angry.

Angry at the betrayal from his father.

Even though he and his father had never been close, and he had always known that Stephen was a snake, it was still an absolute betrayal of trust.

His mouth tasted like bile and he had to excuse himself to the bathroom at least once every meeting in the first week to wash out his mouth and spit it out in the sink.

But one thing that he had had to learn early on with the life that he led, is how to keep his emotions in check and under wraps. The eyes that were on him whenever he was at an event or making an appearance had made him very good at keeping a straight face and not throwing punches even when he wanted to. So he used all of this, every time he was in the same room as his father.

And it probably helped that Stephen barely bothered to spare him a passing glance.

That wasn't anything particularly unusual either, because even before all of this happened, Stephen never gave him any special attention in these meetings, or when there were business lunches. His excuse was what Jace was going to be taking over all of this one day anyway, he needed to learn the ropes without anyone 'pandering' to him. Now, it was probably more about Stephen just not wanting to illicit any kind of uncomfortable conversation.

Which worked for both of them, because Jace was more than happy to just ignore his father.

Stephen wasn't the only person that he was ignoring either—he was also declining any calls coming in from Jordan. He had sent him a text to say that he wanted to take a break, didn't want to be involved in the car heisting business, but about once a week, Jordan still gave him a call. A part of Jace wanted to reach out and answer the phone, wanting to go and have fun, experience that adrenaline high he always got when he was pressing the accelerator to the ground. But he was taking to heart everything Celine had told him, to keep his head down and work hard, and that's what he was doing.

It had been a long day, Jace had been in the boardroom since just after nine that morning, listening to a bunch of presentation from companies who wanted to join together with the Herondale business. Each presentation went for about half an hour, accountants and businessmen running their mouths with numbers and fancy phrases, and then questions coming from the investors. There had been a half hour break for lunch, and then it was right back into the boardroom. Now it was five o'clock, and he was ready to get the hell out of there.

"You've been quiet the past month or so," Hodge Starkweather commented as he moved to stand next to Jace at the line of elevators. Hodge was one of the longest standing investors in the and also one of the more older ones. Jace remembered when he was younger, Hodge would come around to their apartment, he had been friends with his parents. Something had happened, and then one day Hodge wasn't coming anymore, and Jace only saw him at events and meetings. But Hodge had always been nice to him, whatever it was that had caused the falling out between, hadn't extended to Jace, which he was glad about.

"Yeah, just been...Trying to take everything in," Jace gave Hodge a tired smile.

"When it's your turn to take all of this on, you're going to do a great job," Hodge told him confidently. "You've been surrounded by this all your life, and you did well in your degree. You've also got the support of most of the investors, we've got your back."

"_Most_ of the investors?" Jace raised an eyebrow as the elevator pinged open and they stepped inside.

"Hey, barely any of the investors support your father," Hodge shrugged. "So 'most' is a definite step up. You're never going to be able to keep everyone happy, and it'll drain far too much of your energy to try to please them."

"Never really tried that hard to do that anyway," Jace smirked.

"Good," Hodge nodded resolutely as he jabbed his finger to one of the underground levels while Jace pressed his finger against the G for the ground floor. They were quiet for a moment as they whizzed downward silently, and then Hodge pursed his lips and glanced at Jace. "I was serious, boy. You've got the support, an you've got the brains. You won't need to worry when it's your turn to take on the company."

"Thanks, Hodge," Jace mumbled, a little surprised at the comment. Hodge just nodded as they reached the ground floor and the doors slid open. He was about to say goodbye as he stepped out, but Hodge put his hands on the doors, stopping them from gliding shut again.

"I'm sorry about what happened," he said gruffly and Jace blinked. "Between your girl and your father."

"Wait, what—how did you—" Jace broke off, frowning. As far as he was aware, Kaelie wouldn't have gone around and said anything, and he was pretty sure he would have heard about it if she had. And as for his father, he really had absolutely nothing to gain by admitting that he was a dirty old man who chased after young girls in their twenties, especially young girls who were engaged to his son.

"It's not too hard to put together all the pieces," Hodge shrugged. "And I may have seen them once or twice in his office," he gave Jace a sympathetic grimace but Jace schooled his expression, sighing and shrugging.

"It is what it is," he muttered.

"Keep your head up, boy," Hodge concluded before he stepped back into the elevator and the doors finally closed. Jace swallowed hard as the elevator continued it's journey downward, and he shoved his hands into his pockets. The meeting had been held on the business floor of the hotel, which had a couple of conference rooms. The hotel lobby was pretty busy at this time of evening, with people coming and going, and he got a smile from the pretty girl behind the receptionist desk. Jace gave her a small smile back but quickly looked ahead, not interested in going over and starting a conversation with her. As he made it out onto the busy sidewalk, he began to walk to the two blocks to his hotel building. He blended in well with the other hundreds of men and woman who were making their way home after a day at work, all in smart business attire, most with suitcases or tidy handbags. He had just reached his hotel building and was about to walk inside when he heard his name being called out.

"Jace!" His whole body literally felt like it was curling in on itself at the sound of her voice, his blood running cold. "Jace!"

It was Kaelie.

Jace pursed his lips, freezing for a moment as he contemplated his options. He really, _really_ didn't want to talk to her. There was nothing that he had to say to her, and absolutely nothing that she could say to him that was going to change his mind.

"Jace!" She was now right next to him, wearing far too much make up and a sickly sweet amount of perfume. "Jace, we need to talk." Jace still wasn't looking in her direction, his eyes glued to the hotel door in front of him where the doorman, Mike Anderson, was watching him with careful eyes. They had all been given strict orders not to allow her into the building, and Jace didn't doubt for a second that Mike was going to call security if he gave him a signal.

But he was going to run into her sooner or later, and so he might as well get it over with now. They were in the middle of a crowded street, and hopefully even Kaelie had some dignity left not to cause a ridiculous scene.

"Kaelie," Jace said, forcing himself to keep his voice level and his expression neutral. "What can I do for you?"

"Jace," she stuck out her lower lip in a pout and one of her hands went to her face, long, manicured nails tapping against her cheekbones. "Jace, I'm really sorry that you had to find out about your father and I that way." There was _something_ in her tone...Something that Jace was trying to process. "I just..." she let out a heavy sigh, and then sent a glare in the direction of an exhausted looking woman who bumped into her. "What your father and I have—I just want you to know that it's nothing serious. It's nothing that I want to get in between us! I am sorry that you got hurt, and I'm sorry you found out the way you did, but it really doesn't have to change anything between us. It's not as though we're in love, both of us knew that we weren't going into this because we had feelings for each other, and I have no problem with you having mistresses as long as you're discreet."

_That_ was it.

Jace finally put his finger on what it was he had been trying to pinpoint.

She was placating him—it was almost condescending.

Like she was trying to explain something to a child.

She thought that this was _okay_.

And that wasn't the only thing that Jace had picked up on.

_'What your father and I _have_.'_

"You're still sleeping with him?" Jace asked bluntly. "You two didn't even have the decency to stop after being caught by your fiancée who also happens to be his _son_?!" Kaelie blinked at him, as though the idea had never occurred to her, and then he zeroed in on her hand, the one that wasn't touching her face, that was hanging at her side.

Still with the engagement ring that he had presented to her months ago.

"You know what? It's doesn't even matter. We're done, Kaelie," Jace's voice had dropped to almost a hiss. "We're done, and I don't care what you and my father have going on, or what excuse you've got, or what arrangement you think that we can come to. We're done." Kaelie's lips parted, and he could see her scrambling for words, but by now he had managed to get his feet working again, linking back together with his brain, and he was quickly closing the gap between himself and the hotel. Mike opened the door for him, ushering himself, and then very purposefully closing the door in Kaelie's face as she made a move for building.

* * *

It was the next day that Jace was out at lunch. It was this Japanese place that he and Alec came to a lot, apparently Magnus had introduced him to. It did incredible sushi and even better don buri, and it the place was small enough that he was usually able to come here and not run into anyone he knew. He had been sitting at the back of the crowded cafe when he heard a familiar laugh and his head snapped up and saw her.

"I can't believe you haven't brought me here before!" Clary was saying to the person she was with. "I don't think I'm ever going to eat sushi from any other place."

"Oh, doll. The places I need to take you. Cheesecake from _Emmelines_? It's divine!" Jace's eyebrows raised as he realized that was Magnus.

"I don't think my ass can take cheesecake with all this other food that you're buying me," Clary smirked as it was their turn to pay and they stepped forward, Magnus handing over his debit card to the woman behind the counter. Jace couldn't help himself, stuffing the rest of his food into his mouth and getting up, almost tripping over another customer chair in his rush to get the front of the store. Magnus saw him first, turning around and giving him a surprised look.

"Jace," he frowned, and then there was a smirk pulling at the corners of his glossy lips. "Fancy seeing you here." His eyes darted back to Clary, and then to Jace and he tilted his head to the side in a very knowing fashion. "Look at that, Clary," Magnus nudged Clary in the side and wiggled his eyebrows. "It's Jace."

"So it is," Clary mumbled, although she didn't look unhappy to see him, which was a move in the right direction.

"You know what I've just remembered?" Magnus snapped his fingers. "I've just realized I've got something to do back at the club." Jace's eyebrows flew upward and Clary rolled her eyes with a snort.

"No, you don't. We're finished there," she stated and Jace blinked, wondering what she meant by 'we're finished there'?

"I need to go do my shopping," Magnus continued.

"No, you don't. We went yesterday," Clary narrowed her eyes, and Jace was once again surprised. He had no idea what was going on here, and since when did the two of them become friends?

"Well, you know what?" Magnus smirked. "I have a thing with a guy about a...Thing. You can give our girl a ride home, right, Jace?" He looked pointedly Jace who just nodded mutely. "Excellent," he grinned at Jace and leaned in to kiss Clary on the cheek. "Toodles!" He wiggled his fingers at them and was then flouncing out the doorway, leaving Jace and Clary staring at each other.

"Subtlety really isn't his strong point," Clary pointed out.

"No, no," Jace snorted and shook his head. "It really isn't." Things went awkward between them again until there was the sound of someone clearing their throat and Jace realized that they were blocking the way for people to pay at the counter. They shuffled out of the way, coming to a non-verbal decision to walk out onto the busy footpath. "So, uh, you want a ride back home?"

"You don't have to," Clary began, shooting him a look out of the corner of his eye.

"I want to," Jace stated firmly, and she looked surprised, but then a smile pulled at the corners of her lips before turning back to look up the footpath. "I walked here from my place, and my car is parked there. You want to walk?"

"Sounds good," Clary nodded for him to lead the way and he gave her a tentative smile.

"So you and Magnus?" He had to lift his voice to be heard over the hum of traffic and other people that was surrounding them, wanting to keep up conversation between the pair of them. "What's going on there?"

"Well, I asked him to run away with me, but he turned me down," Clary smirked at her feet, one of her hands going to her hair to push it away from her face. Jace grinned across at her as they came to a stop at a crossing, waiting with several other people for the lights to indicate for them to cross the road. Jace was probably standing a little bit closer to Clary than he needed to be, and their arms brushed together more than once as they walked. "Nah, he asked me to work for him. I've been doing that for the past month and a bit."

"Oh, right. Alec mentioned Magnus was going to ask you," Jace was annoyed that Alec hadn't mentioned Clary had been coming into the city on a regular basis, then he could have engineered a 'casual' meeting earlier. Although maybe it was a good thing that it had been six or seven weeks, given them both their space.

"I can hear you over-thinking from over here, Golden Boy," Clary's voice was lightly teasing and he shot her a smile before coming to a stop.

"Just imagining you in those hot outfits over at _Hypnotica_," he replied, only partially lying. Clary shoved at his arm with a snort.

"Perv," she shot at him.

"And proud of it," he fired right back with a grin. "Anyway, this is me. We just need to the take the elevator down to parking." Clary blinked as she realized they were standing in front of a large and clearly very high end hotel.

"Wait, this is you? You live here?" Clary's tone was one of disbelief and Jace glanced between her and the hotel. He knew that he lived in a nice place, he was in one of the best hotels in the city, but it was just part of his life, it wasn't really something he paid attention to. "How did you go from this to our place? Shit," her smile faded and her eyebrows pulled together. "How did _Isabelle_ go from this sort of thing to our place?" Jace frowned, not too sure what she meant and he reached out and touched her hand.

"Hey," he said quietly. "Why are you saying it like that?" Clary pursed her lips as she looked at him.

"Our lives are just very different," she commented with an off-handed shrug. Jace tipped his head upward to look at the hotel building, all polished black and gold going toward the sky, and then nodded.

"You're right," he told her. "You get to go home every day to people who love you. I come home to an empty pent house." Clary looked taken aback by the comment but Jace was already walking inside. "Come on, let's get you home." He nodded at Mike who's eyes widened in surprise at Clary but quickly schooled his expression back to neutral as they passed. Clary stopped, though, and looked at Mike, narrowing her eyes a little. Mike looked back at her, and then over his shoulder at Jace with a questioning look.

"Is that hat a requirement?" She asked bluntly, waving her fingers up toward the smart black hat that Mike was wearing that had the hotels logo emblazoned over the front.

"Uh..." now Mike looked really confused and Jace felt a laugh bubbling in his chest at the expression the older man was wearing.

"Doesn't it get hot in summer? Like itchy?" She leaned in close and jerked a thumb over her shoulder in Jace's direction. "I've got an in with the boss, he kinda owes me for crashing on my couch. I could always discuss a wardrobe change with him." Mike was speechless and the look in his eyes were almost pleading now. Jace let out a laugh and took pity on the man, leaning forward to grab Clary's arm.

"Come on," he tugged at her.

"What? I'm just having a conversation with the man!"

"You're making him uncomfortable, that's what you're doing," Jace snorted with a wave over his shoulder at Mike, who was staring after him, his lips parted.

"I'll work on that hat, buddy!" Clary called out to him, and as Mike turned back to face the street again, there was a ghost of a smile on his mouth. Jace went to the end elevator, pulling his wallet out of his back pocket and taking out a key card, swiping it against the slot. "Private elevator?" Clary asked with raised eyebrows.

"Something like that," Jace nodded. "Employees can use it as well. And my dad, or any of the other shareholders or people on the board who have a swipe card." Clary nodded but didn't say anything as they stepped inside and took the elevator down to the underground floor. Clary stayed quiet as they got to the floor where the cars were kept, but her eyes were wide as she took in the expensive vehicles all lined up. They reached the end where his three were parked, and it was instinctive that he went for the simple Honda Civic rather than the Ferrari or the Porsche, knowing that Clary would feel more comfortable in that car. "Just straight back home?" He asked her as they got in the car.

"Yup," Clary nodded as she rested her handbag on her knees and stared ahead. Jace turned the stereo on, letting the music play softly as they inched along the street. It was the afternoon, and Jace knew that it was going to take at least half an hour to get back to her place. But he didn't mind—he would take anytime alone with her that he could. It was a strange thing for him to feel, since usually the only people he actively wanted to spend more time with was Alec, and maybe his mother.

But he was getting used to the fact that Clary was an exception to most of his rules.

"I have a feeling that Si is going to ask Izzy and Max to move in with him soon," Clary said abruptly and Jace's hands jerked on the steering wheel a little. She quirked an eyebrow at the slight tug that had transferred through to the car but then went back to staring at the road through the window.

"I thought that they only just started dating?" Jace asked.

"Well, yeah, but you've seen them together. They're so fucking infatuated with each other it's disgusting," the fond look on her face softened her words and Jace grinned.

"You want them to move in together," he observed.

"Of course I do!" Clary stated. "They're the three people I love most in the world, why wouldn't I want them to be happy?" Jace just gave her a smile, before looking back at the road. "And especially with Max...He loves Simon. And Simon is amazing with Max. I think it would be awesome for them." She tightened her fingers around her bag and her smile faltered a little bit.

"So what's the problem?" He asked softly as he managed to get some speed going, the traffic thinning out just a little.

"Well, it's the first time I'm going to be alone in a long time," Clary shrugged, clearing her throat in a way that was probably meant to sound subtle but just came off as uncomfortable. "After my mum died and my dad was deemed an unfit parent, I bounced between foster families, which is where I met Simon. I dropped out of school and everything and kind of just lived with some friends and stuff. I didn't properly get a job or find somewhere settled until Izzy came along," she was now staring resolutely out the side window, and Jace couldn't see her face. "It's just going to be different, is all," she finally breathed out. Jace bit down on his lower lip, searching for something to say.

"You guys are a family," was what he settled on. "You're never going to be alone." Clary didn't say anything for a long time, but then the tension seemed to drain from her shoulders and she slumped back into the leather seat.

"Thanks," she mumbled under her breath, but her lips were curved in a soft smile. The rest of the drive were quiet, Jace glad that he had said something that had made her relax. Somewhere a few blocks away from her place she started singing under her breath to the music coming from the stereo, and Jace really liked the sound of it filling his car. If he thought he could get away with driving straight past her house and just continuing going out of the city, he would.

But instead, he pulled up outside their home and pursed his lips together as he looked over at her. Clary tightened her fingers around the handbag on her lap and glanced over at him.

"Hey, um..." Jace took in a breath through his nose, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel. "I just—" Clary turned to him expectantly and Jace felt his brain freeze. "I just, uh—"

"Yeah?" Her big, green eyes were staring at him and Jace had to look away to get the words out. The words that he really wished he had had a chance to say the morning after they had woken up together, instead of waking up alone with a bunch of questions and doubts running through his head.

"Look, I just wanted you to know; me and you sleeping together?" He saw her body tense up again in his peripherals, but he kept his eyes forward so he didn't get distracted, his stomach feeling heavier. "It wasn't some sort of a rebound thing. I mean, I know that it could have looked that way and everything, but I just want you to know that it wasn't—that it meant more to me than that."

"Jace, you don't have to..." Clary began but Jace shook his head.

"No," he said. "I just wanted you to know that. I'm not—I mean, I'm not expecting from it, but it's just something that I needed to tell you." He finally looked across at her. He wasn't sure what her reaction would be, but wide eyes and pink lips parted wasn't it. Her face just looked so open and sweet and he really wanted to lean in to kiss that perfect mouth of hers.

"Okay," she gave a nod. "So, I'll see you around then, right? Maybe you could stop by _Hypnotica_?" There was a hopeful glint in her eye.

"Yeah, yeah I will," he nodded jerkily, probably a few more times that what would be deemed 'cool'. Clary smiled again and unbuckled her seat belt, her hand resting on the the door handle. Just as it looked as though she was about to get out, she turned back and leaned across the centre console. She pressed her lips to his cheeks briefly, and then she was climbing swiftly out of the car and jogging up the steps to their walk up without another glance over her shoulder.

_I wanted to say a big thank you to all you beautiful reviewers. Seriously. I love writing, and the support I get from you guys encourages that love. You're the reason I write so much and so often, and am willing to try new ideas and things like that, so a massive thank you to all you guys :)_

_Also, I wanted to say that I've loved the support your guys have had toward my new stories. If you haven't already had a look at the short synopsis, they are up on my profile. Your feedback in reviews and in the private messages have been awesome, it's great to talk about them with you guys! If you guys have any requests or anything specific you guys want to see, let me know, and I'll see if it's something that I can work in. _

_Now! Guess what? I've been married two years. What. The Fuck? I feel way to young for that. LOL. But yeah, it's our anniversary next week. So that's pretty awesome :)_

_Other awesome things are; the TV show _Designated Survivor_. I've been in love with Keifer Sutherland since _24_, and Maggie Q is in it, and she's fucking badass, although maybe not quite as badass as in _Nikita_. The song _I Hate You, I Love You_ by Gnash featuring Olivia O'Brien. OMG. I'm addicted. And I've been blasting the cover of _Lean On_ by Openside every time I'm in my car. I heard it live and had to download it as soon as I got home. It is FUCKING AMAZING, as you would know if we're friends on snapchat because I've sent out several of me singing along. Hahahaha. _

_As usual, leave a review, let me know what you think, recommend songs or TV shows or other fics for me to check out. A couple of nice words will go a long way with the shitty week I've had :( I'll send out a preview of the next chapter for anyone logged in :) xx_


	21. Chapter 21

_This is the second to last update before I go on a short break over Christmas/New Years! Hope you enjoy it :)_

"You're looking gorgeous tonight, biscuit," Magnus hummed out in Clary's ear as he appeared behind her. Clary turned around to face him, the diamantes at the corners of her eyes glittering as they caught the gold and purple slights that were spinning around. "How's the crowd doing?" She had been on the door, smiling widely and lightly flirting with all the guests as they had come in, taking their money and letting them know what attractions were coming tonight. But it was now almost midnight, and the stream of guests had slowly dwindled, so one of the other girls had taken over.

"It's crazy, as per usual," Clary replied with a smile as she turned back to face the crowd. The atmosphere in _Hypnotica_ had an almost electric energy that throbbed through it, from the girls that were dancing and twirling on the stage, to the bartenders who had eyeliner framing their eyes and flirting with men and woman alike, to the waitresses who laughed musically. People who looked down their noses at places like this could say that this club and the strip club that she worked at in her neighborhood were pretty much the same thing, that this one just came with a prettier, more expensive wrapping.

But that wasn't the case.

At least, not exactly.

There were no backrooms where girls were encouraged by their boss to do things that were technically classes as illegal. If there was any touching or unwanted contact, Magnus didn't hesitate to snap his fingers and have one of the bouncers come and escort the person out, unlike Clary's other job, where the owners would turn a blind eye in favor of higher tips. The dancing here...It was sexy. It was crazy sexy, but it wasn't slutty.

Clary loved it, and she was starting to agree with Isabelle, who had told her time and time again that she should quit at the other club and just work full time here. Magnus had been telling her the same thing as well, especially since she had starting spending even more time in the city.

"Lydia's got every eye of the house on her," she noticed as Lydia Branwell's twisted her body around, wearing only a golden leotard that had beads sewn together hanging over her legs like a veil. Lydia was the girl who had given Clary the nasty look on the day she had come in to talk to Magnus, and the relationship between them hadn't really improved, but Clary had to admit that Lydia had incredible skill as a dancer. She had been trained as a gymnast and had also taken ballet as a kid. As she had grown up, she had ended up with an addiction to coke which had gotten her kicked out of the ballet school she had been attending. She had kicked the coke addiction, but she didn't have the opportunity to be ballerina anymore. Which was how she had ended up here.

She didn't look too kindly on new people coming in, which Clary could understand, and things weren't quite as frosty as they once were, but they still wouldn't be described as friendly.

"Your boy is here with mine," Magnus commented and Clary automatically felt her eyes sliding over to where Jace was sitting at a booth with Alec. She had let them into the club about an hour ago, Alec giving her a small smile while Jace had leaned in and given her a kiss on the cheek. She had punched his arm lightly and gave him a warning look, but there was a twinkle in her eye that had said she didn't mind all that much.

"He's not my boy," was all Clary said, quickly shifting her eyes toward where a particularly drunk man was reaching out an groping one of their waitresses. From the tiny balcony that she and Magnus were standing on, they had a view over the whole club, and it was somewhere that the pair of them came quite often near the end of the night. Apparently Camille and Magnus used to come up here quite often together, and it made Clary's heart warm to know that Magnus viewed her as important enough to bring her up here.

"Yeah, right," Magnus snorted, and his eyes were on the drunk man as well, narrowing despite the friendly conversation he was having with Clary. He let out a sharp whistle to draw the attention of one of the bouncers and nodded over to the drunk patron."Is that why he's been coming in here at least once a week, and always on one of the nights that you're working, but barely watching any of the dancers? You know, the dancers who are the main attraction for coming to this club?"

"Oh, I don't know about that," Clary shot him a sultry look from underneath the fake eyelashes she put on every night before she started working. "I'd come here just to look at your fine ass." Magnus smirked at her before looking back down to where Alec and Jace were sitting, both of them with drinks in their hands. They were talking amongst themselves, occasionally looking up at the stage where Lydia had finished her dance and it was now three girls in matching red and gold dresses, performing almost acrobatic dance routines.

"Thank you, doll, but you're deflecting," Magnus told her knowingly. "You and Jace...I mean, you've slept together." Clary hadn't been the one to tell him that, he had asked her a couple of times what had happened, and then when he had asked, she just hadn't denied it. That had happened just a few days before they had seen Jace in the don buri joint, which was why Magnus had been so completely un-subtle about pushing them together. "And you're both fucking hot. I get that you've both got issues, but really just need to ignore that shit, lock yourselves in a hotel room for forty-eight hours and just go at it." Clary let out a very unladylike shout of laughter.

"Oh really? That's what you think would make everything better?" She asked him with a grin on her bright red mouth.

"Sex makes everything better," Magnus stated.

"So if we just have sex again and that resolves all this sexual tension between us and then, what? Go our separate ways?"

"Absolutely not," Magnus shook his head resolutely. "Once the sexual tension is out of the way, you can move onto figuring out the issues between you."

"Right, well, I feel as though I'm not quite as certain as you about this idea," Clary replied as she clasped her hands in front of her. One of the bouncers was now escorting out the drunk who had been trying to cop a feel with the waitress, and Clary smiled. That was just another difference between this club and her other one. Magnus made it clear that any girl who was on his payroll was carefully looked after, whereas it was all up to the girls to try and avoid sticky fingers of drunk men at the other club.

"Yeah, well, whatever the case, you two need to sort it out soon. Because you're sexual tension is rubbing off on me, and it's making me very uncomfortable," Magnus stated with a curl of his upper lip.

"I'm pretty sure you don't know the meaning of uncomfortable," Clary shot at him with a grin which froze on her mouth when Jace looked up from where he was sitting and gave her a soft look. She didn't even hear Magnus' reply, because Jace didn't look away from her, their eyes locked together. His gold eyes made sparks skitter through her stomach.

She dropped her gaze when she felt her cheeks burn, smiling at the ground.

* * *

It was late the next morning that Clary came stumbling down the steps. It was Sunday morning, and she was going to be at the strip club that evening, which she wasn't looking forward to. Before she had the job with Magnus, going to the strip club was something that she accepted as needing to do, to make money. Even though she didn't enjoy it very much, it was just something she accepted. But now that she had another job and another way of getting by, it was becoming harder and harder to drag herself into the seedy building.

She was definitely beginning to agree with Isabelle and Magnus, and quitting. She just needed to make sure that the job at _Hypnotica_ wasn't something that was going to disappear, because she couldn't let herself be without work. But things with Magnus seemed to be permanent...Maybe it was time to let the job at the strip club go.

"Oh! Fuck!" Clary came to a stop when she got to the foot of the stairs and could see through to the lounge. Where Simon and Isabelle were rolling around on the couch and making out pretty intensely. "C'mon guys! This is disgusting!" Isabelle paused from where she was straddling Simon, her shirt hitched up around her chest and the crotch of Simon's pants purposefully tented. "What if I was Max?!" Isabelle's lips were swollen as she smirked over the arm of the couch across at Clary. "Ew," she snorted out one last time before stalking past them and into the kitchen. "It's almost like experiencing incest, watching the two of you together."

"Yeah, but it's not, so it's okay," Isabelle grinned. Simon, at least, had turned red with embarrassment.

"I'm pretty sure you won't be saying that if I was Max," Clary pointed out as she turned on the coffee machine and then turned back to look at them with her arms crossed over her chest. "Now, since we're all here, I figure we should probably have this conversation." Simon and Isabelle exchanged concerned glances and then looked back at her. "So," her face relaxed and she raised an eyebrow at them. "Are you using protection? Are you being safe?"

"Oh, fuck up," Isabelle groaned out and Simon just went even redder.

"What about you?" He managed to fire back at her. "Don't think we haven't seen Jace dropping you off here at all hours of the night. What's going on there, hm?"

"Don't worry, _dad_," she teased him with a grin. "There's nothing going on between me and the pretty boy." Her answer seemed to take both on the couch by surprise and they blinked back at her.

"What?" Isabelle gaped at her.

"What '_what_'?" Clary asked with a frown. The coffee machine beeped and she turned back to pour it into a mug.

"What do you mean 'nothing going on'? I've seen the two of you together and there's...There's something there, going both ways, not just on your side," Isabelle said. Clary just shrugged as she walked over to the door that lead onto the tiny balcony, unlatching the lock and breathing in the fresh air. "Clary?" Isabelle got off the couch and straightened out her clothes.

"No, nothing's happening," Clary shook her head. "He's been coming by the club and giving me rides home, but nothing is happening. He's just a friend."

"No man drives all the way out of the city at three or four in the morning to drop you off and then happily drive back home when nothing is happening," Isabelle said knowingly.

"I thought you told me he was a good guy?" Clary sipped from her coffee cup and sent a teasing smile at her friend. "Isn't getting a gal home at ungodly hours in a big, bad city the sign of a good guy?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Isabelle rolled her eyes a little huffily as she came into the kitchen and poured her own cup of coffee. "But still, don't you think that maybe it's obvious he's feeling something a little bit more more than friendship if he's been coming all the way out here? Especially since he's been working even harder than usual. Alec says that he's been going into all of the meetings and overseeing everything that his father will let him do without talking to him directly—"

"They're still not talking?" Simon piped up from the couch.

"Would you talk to your dad again so easily if he was banging your girlfriend?" Clary asked pointedly. Simon made a face and fell quiet again.

"My point is, he's gotta be up and out by seven or eight in the morning. So driving you out here at three or four only gives him a couple of hours sleep for just 'a friend'," Isabelle smirked knowingly. "And we already know that you feel something more for him." Clary just stared at her with an expression on her face that clearly said that she wasn't going to talk about this anymore. Isabelle knew that look too well and there wasn't really much point in pushing the subject. "Anyway, you left these laying on the table yesterday before you went to work," she commented as she reached over to pick up some printed off papers with several things highlighted and circled. "What is it? Something with Magnus?"

"Yup," Clary tried to look nonchalant, but Isabelle could see the intent look in her eyes as she looked over at the pages Isabelle was flicking through.

"He's not working you too hard, is he?" Simon looked a little over-protective as he got up and walked over to look at the papers. "I thought you were just meant to be the hostess and helping out around the place," he picked up some of the glossy print outs and flipped through them. "Does he pay you for this extra work?" Clary rolled her eyes at her foster brothers tone and nodded.

"Yes, Si," she hummed out at him. "Magnus pays me just fine. That place is a hundred times better than the strip club, you know that. And he's good to me."

"He is," Isabelle agreed, looking over at Simon. "You know that he is. He always makes sure she has a ride home; if it isn't with Jace then he pays for a town car on top of her wage, not taking it out of it. Everything is working out perfectly." She smiled widely at the pair of them, the girls face completely free of make up and her eyes bright and sparkling. Not needing to work through the night and probably having a steady relationship with Simon all helped with that. Clary was happy for how things had worked out for her friend, and how they seemed to be working out for her.

Even if it meant that she had to walk in on the two of them making out on the couch on a semi-regular basis.

* * *

"What are you looking at?" Magnus asked as he twirled around on his seat and looked over to where Clary was laying on her stomach on the couch against the back wall of his office.

"These," Clary shifted her position and leaned across to give him his iPad that she had been using. "I think they're pretty cute." Magnus looked down at the page and a grin spread across hsi face as his finger skimmed over the page.

"Holy shit," he wiggled his perfectly arched eyebrows at her. "These are awesome." They were in Alice in Wonderland themed cupcakes, and the second page that she had opened was a cupcake boutique in town—a very exclusive one—that was well known for making infused with alcohol. Lime and margarita cupcakes with lime icing, chocolate cupcakes with Bailey's cream cheese icing or rum and raisin cupcakes. "These could be totally perfect," Magnus scrambled back behind his desk and tapped his fingers across his keyboard, bringing up the website on his computer, and frowned at the screen.

"What you thinking?" Clary asked as she got off the couch, stretching out her neck and rolling her shoulders.

"We could have these on platters around the club," Magnus smiled over the top of the computer screen at her. "You thought about what you're going to wear?"

"Well, it's all on your credit card, pal," Clary winked at him. "I'll go as crazy as you'll let me."

"I'm thinking a Red Queen kind of thing," Magnus smirked as ran his eyes up and down the red heads body in an almost measuring way. "I'm thinking fishnets and a black dress with some sort of adorable top hat." Clary let out a snort and rolled her eyes. "Although this isn't going to happen for a while yet, I'm still getting a handle on this place. Camille hasn't officially handed it over to me yet. Technically she's still the manager."

"Oh, I thought she had let you take over," Clary tilted her head to the side as she walked over to look at the pictures and photos that were on the wall, reaching out to touch the frame of a photo of Magnus with a couple of men. They were all painted and dressed colorfully, it looked as though they were at a Pride parade.

"Not quite. She's not going to let me take over without a 2IC," Magnus was still staring at her over the top of the computer screen. Clary ran her fingers through her hair, which was a messy mane of red curls down her back, before turning back to face Magnus, her eyes widening when she saw that he was still watching him.

"What?" She asked, her eyes narrowing. "Why are you staring at me?"

"She's not going to let me take over without a 2IC," Magnus repeated, giving her a pointed look and resting his chin on his palm, his elbow resting on the desk. "And I know who I want to be my 2IC." Clary blinked as she realized what he was insinuating.

"Me?" She gaped in surprise. "Why the fuck would you want me?"

"Why not?!" Magnus grinned widely, his cat-like eyes dancing.

"Because a second-in-charge is some sort of manager position, right? Need to be trained in running a business and all that shit? That's not me!"

"Why not?!" Magnus was practically vibrating with excitement in his seat. "I want it to be you, so I'm telling you what I want!"

"But I'm just—me being a hostess is already a fucking step up from dancing in my underwear around a pole! And now you're offering me some sort of manager position! This just doesn't feel..." she frowned at him, still looking confused. "It doesn't feel right?" She scrunched up her nose.

"What do you mean—doesn't feel right?" Magnus hesitated for the first time. "Do you not want the job?"

"Magnus..." Clary made an exasperated noise at the back of her throat and scratched her fingers through her hair, turning around to look back at one of the paintings on the wall. She heard movement behind her and she knew that Magnus was walking over to where she was standing. She twisted her mouth as she stared at one of the painting and felt Magnus put his hand on her shoulder.

"Sweetie," he began in a soft voice. "Just because you feel as though you don't deserve this, doesn't mean you're right."

"That's not really it," Clary began.

"It's definitely part of it," Magnus shot back at her, bumping one of his hips against hers playfully. "You and I both know it." Clary rolled her eyes at him, feeling her cheeks redden slightly and getting called out—something that didn't happen to often with people other than Isabelle and Simon. "Look, I already told you—a while ago—that Alec tells me things. And he's told me that you're smart."

"Yeah, which is why you've put me in charge of your money and get me to help out with all this stuff," she waved her hand around the office.

"You realize all this office work isn't part of being a hostess?" Magnus raised an eyebrow at her. "Mandy, the last hostess, she would come in for her hours, and then leave as soon as the club closed, just like the waitresses and dancers. Sometimes she would stand in as a waitress, but she never helped behind the bar, or with the close up, or with all of this—and the planning for special events. That's not something a hostess does."

"Eh, so maybe Simon was right," Clary jabbed her elbow into his side lightly. "You have been taking advantage of me."

"Yeah, well, I've been paying you for it, so it's okay," Magnus grinned at her. Clary scratched the side of her face and turned to face him properly. "Besides, you don't seem to mind. And you're definitely the kind of chick to tell me if you've got an issue with something I'm doing." Clary shrugged one shoulder, but there was a smile playing on her face. "Okay, look," Magnus rested his hands on her shoulders and ducked his head slightly so that he was meeting her green eyes full force. "I think you should consider doing a course in management."

This time Clary laughed blatantly.

"Me? Back in school?" Her shoulders shook and her eyes dance. "I'm pretty sure you and I are both aware that sitting in a classroom for eight hours a day isn't something that sits well with me."

"It wouldn't be like that," Magnus protested, pulling away from her and going over to his desk, rustling around in the top drawer. Clary still wasn't taking his offer seriously and just shook her head as he pulled out something. "You don't need to get some big fancy degree. It's just a certificate. Camille is happy for me to be making decisions like this, and I've talked to her about you—she's happy with the support you're giving me and she knows that I want you to be promoted. But this club is her baby, and she's not going to have a 2IC but in place who doesn't have some kind of training or course work behind them." He shoved the booklets and a couple of loose forms over at Clary.

"What's this?" Clary took them from her, and her eyebrows shot up near her hairline when she saw it was a registration form and a booklet for NYU. "I can't believe you're serious about this," she muttered as she flicked through the glossy pages.

"I'm fucking dead serious," Magnus crossed his arms as he watched her. "Go home, think about it." Clary's lips were pursed and she breathed in deeply as her eyes settled over the price of the course, even though it was just a six month, part time course. "I know that the money is going to be an issue, as well as the time away from work. But I can persuade Camille to subsidize the course, and it's only part time—three half days a week." Clary still hadn't answered, tapping her fingers against the side of the booklet. "We would make it work!" He continued quickly. "You can always crash at mine or Alec's or Jace's through the week so that you don't need to travel! You're a quick study, I can help you and I know Simon would as well! It would be really good, biscuit, I promise you that this is—"

"Okay, okay!" Clary finally burst out, holding up her hand to stop his tirade. Magnus blinked at her owlishly. She took in a deep breath and pressed her lips together in a thin line. "I'll think about it." A grin spread across Magnus' face and Clary quickly held up a finger. "I said I'll think about it!" She repeated warningly, but his smiling was infectious and she knew that she was smiling back. "Hey, and don't think I missed that comment about me staying at Jace's place."

"You weren't meant to miss it," Magnus wiggled his eyebrows at her. Clary licked her lips and rolled her eyes and walked over to the couch to look through the booklet at the pages that Magnus had marked. They were quiet for almost fifteen minutes, the only sounds coming from Hayley Kiyoko playing through the iPod speakers.

"Do you really think he likes me?" She suddenly asked, looking over at him. "I mean, not what's in my pants, but me?" Magnus looked surprised at her question, and instead of shooting back a lewd joke or making a suggestive comment, he just tilted his head to the side and gave her a small smile.

"Yes," he nodded. "I do."

He didn't miss the way the her cheeks prettily turned pink before she dropped her head and looked back at the papers in her hands, her hair falling around her face.

_As I was going through and editing these chapters, I was watching _Princess Bride_ with my hubby. Omg. Absolutely love that movie. Don't think I'll ever get sick of it. It's just so fucking amazing! Will always be in my top five movies :) I pretty much quote every line as the movie plays. Whoops. Hahahaha. My song rec's for this time are _On Your Side_ by The Veronicas and _Time After Time_ the cover by Jessica Mauboy._

_Leave a review, let me know what you guys think :)_


	22. Chapter 22

_This is my last update of the year! I just wanted to say a massive thank you to all of your support you guys have shown me and reviews that you have left. I'll be back around February next year, but until then, I'm still able to be reached through here if you send me a PM, or if you wanted to add me on Facebook or Snapchat :) Also, make sure you check out the authors note at the bottom in regards to my upcoming stories._

Magnus and Clary ended up working late into the night. It was a Tuesday, which meant the club wasn't open, but that didn't stop the pair of them working on costumes throughout the night, ordering in Thai take-out and turning up some nineties playlist loud. There were two woman who helped out with the costumes for the clubs, but Magnus had mentioned that he needed to do some adjustments and so Clary had shrugged and decided to stay.

"You want to come back to mine?" Magnus hummed out as they began walking out of the darkened club. "It's Wednesday now, and you're working tonight. You're welcome to stay." Clary grinned and nodded.

"Good thing quarter of my wardrobe is at your place now," Clary agreed.

"Plus that gives me extra time to work on convincing you to take that management course," Magnus walked toward the curb and held up his arm, easily hailing down a taxi cab. The nights were still in New York city, but at one thirty in the morning it was a little bit slower, and there weren't as many people flooding the cabs. They got into the cab and Magnus gave his address to the driver and they settled into the worn, leather seats. Clary was holding her handbag on her lap, and he noticed the booklets sticking out, relieved that she had at least was taking them home and not leaving them in the office. "That course starts in a couple of weeks," he continued, a little pointedly.

"Yeah, yeah," Clary rolled her eyes. "You know there's people far better qualified for that kind of job than me, right?"

"And it's exactly like I told you the first time," Magnus shrugged. "I like you. I trust you. All you need is a couple qualifications under your belt to make you perfect for this job." He paused and then shuffled around slightly in the seat so that his torso was facing toward her. "Look, I know that I'm completely gorgeous and irresistible, but I wasn't always like this. I didn't have parents with lots of money and lots of opportunities. I had to work two jobs to put myself through Uni for a business degree. That degree took me three years, and I have an amazing job now, but I only have that because Camille took a chance on me."

"So, what? I'm your charity case or something?" Clary arched an eyebrow at him and Magnus just rolled his eyes.

"Don't go and get all up in arms about it, you know that that's not the case," he told her. "Now, come on, biscuit. I like you better than going through a bunch of interviews and possibly finding someone who is half as hot as you." Clary rolled her eyes playfully at that, used to Magnus' constant flirting. "So yeah, think about it. But think fast. For me?" Magnus pouted at her, looking at her through his thick eyelashes and Clary let out a laugh.

"You're ridiculous, you know that, right?" She told him.

"Yeah, I know," Magnus grinned as the taxi cab pulled up outside his apartment building. "But that's one of the things that everyone loves about me." His apartment building wasn't anywhere near as fancy as the one that Jace lived in, and for that, Clary was thankful for. She had only seen the lobby and the parking area for Jace's hotel, but that alone had made her worried about tracking dust onto the spotless tiled floors and leaving smudges on the golden elevator buttons. She had been staying with Magnus generally at least once a week since she start working for him, occasionally more, and she had definitely started building a wardrobe there, leaving clothes behind or purposefully bringing some so that she had a clean spare.

"I think I'm going to go to sleep," Clary said as they reached his apartment and he let them in. "That all good?"

"Works for me, babe," Magnus agreed. "You know where everything is." The curtains were already pulled in the lounge, leaving them in almost complete darkness until Magnus flicked on one of the lamps that was next to the massive L-shaped couch that Clary always slept on. "I'll see you in the morning," he reached in and kissed her on the cheek, wiggling his fingers over his shoulders at her as he walked off to his bedroom. Clary took in a deep breath as she toed off her shoes and put her handbag down on the couch.

She was tired, but the main reason that she had told Magnus that she wanted to sleep was because she wanted some time alone, to think.

She went through her nightly motions first, waiting until Magnus had finished in the shower before going into the the bathroom and taking off her make up, brushing her teeth and then wrestling her thick hair into a braid. Then she grabbed a pillow and a few spare blankets from the hallway cupboard, taking out a singlet and a pair of sweatpants that were on the top shelf from where she had left them last time, getting changed in the lounge before stretching out on the couch, pulling the duvets up over her arms.

Second in charge.

A management course.

It all felt so out of reach.

And yet Magnus was putting it all on a silver platter in front of her.

And then he was wondering why she was questioning it.

Clary dug around in her handbag for her phone and looked at the time. It was just after one. She pursed her lips and thought for a moment, wondering if she should really call someone at this time of night. Especially people who worked normal hours through the day. Deciding they could always ignore her call if they didn't want to talk at this hour, she scrolled through her contacts and pressed her thumb down on the contact. She tucked the phone between her ear and the pillow and waited as it rang, feeling strangely nervous and sucking her lower lip into her mouth.

The call rang all of two times before Jace answered, not sounding at all sleepy.

"Clary," his voice was warm and it made her whole body relax into the couch. "Is everything okay? It's kind of late."

"Yeah, I know, I was worried I might wake you up," she admitted, keeping her voice quiet so that Magnus didn't hear her, not wanting to disturb him.

"I was awake," Jace replied. "And I wouldn't have cared anyway." Clary's cheeks heated a little and she didn't answer for a minute as she buried her head into the pillow, taking in a deep breath through her nose. "So? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, it's..." Clary licked her lips. "Magnus offered me a job."

"You're just catching up on that? That happened like two months ago?" Jace joked and she let out a huff.

"You're not even close to being funny, Blondie," she told him and he just laughed down the line. "No, he offered me another job. As 2IC for him." Jace didn't reply verbally, but she heard him make a noise at the back of his throat. "He wants me to take a course at NYU, some sort of management course. Only goes for six months, and I'm assuming a lot of it is going to be stuff he wants to teach me on the job," she trailed off and sighed.

"Is the money the problem? Money for the course?" Jace asked gently.

"No," Clary said quickly before taking a deep breath and relenting. "Well, yeah, maybe that's part of it. But...I don't know. It just feels kind of weird, you know? I mean, I didn't even finish high school. This course—it's just one of those sort of bridging courses, I think, it's not a proper degree or anything, which is probably the only sort of one I'm actually going to be able to get into. The thing is, this job that I've got now is already something far better than I thought I was ever going to get! I mean, I'm just a fucking dancer, and he's trusting me with money and helping the girls with their costumes and getting them ready and closing up the accounts at the end of the night—and he barely even knows me and he's trusting me with this! I'm not up for this kind of job! I don't know enough! Why would be pick me?! This isn't—"

"Hey, hey, hey," Jace finally interrupted her, and Clary flinched when she realized how loud she was getting, loud enough that Magnus could possibly hear her even though his bedroom door was shut. "Okay, first of all, take a breath."

"Yeah, yeah," Clary huffed, but he heard her taking in a couple of deep breaths.

"And second; don't underestimate yourself," he continued. "You know how people go on and on about how if you work really hard and dedicate yourself to something, you'll achieve your dreams, or whatever the fuck you want?" Clary grunted in response. "Yeah, I guess that happens sometimes, but that's definitely not always the case. Most of the time, in fact, that's total bullshit."

"This supposed to be inspiring?" Clary muttered.

"Hold up, I'm getting there. There's that saying—it's not what you know, it's who you know? That's right on point," Jace told her earnestly. "I'm nowhere near the smartest guy who was in my year at school, or in my classes when I went through University. And yet I'm the one who's in line to take over a multi-million dollar hotel chain." If she wasn't so tired and confused, Clary might make a jab at him about sounding as though he was bragging, but she knew that wasn't really the case, and so she just let him keep talking. "And that's because of who my father is, and who he knows. With you, yeah, okay. So what if you're not the most qualified? It's Magnus' choice, and he's picking you. If you don't want the job because it's not something you want to do, then say 'no'. He's not going to be offended and he'll let you keep doing what you're doing now. But if you don't want the job because you think that it's something you can't do, then pull your head out of your ass. You're so much stronger than you give yourself credit for."

Clary blinked.

"You told me some of that stuff about you growing up—not just anyone is tough enough to deal with that. I've heard some things from Alec as well, and I've seen you with Isabelle and Max; hell, I've seen you with me when I came and stayed. And it's not just about you being tough, you need to be smart, and money savvy. And from what Magnus has said, you fit that bill as well," his voice was sincere, and it made Clary feel a relaxed warmth in her bones that she usually didn't feel with anyone except Isabelle, Max and Simon. "If Magnus is giving you this opportunity, then he thinks that you can do it. And if you want my opinion, I think you can do it as well." Clary didn't know how to respond, silence filling the minute or so between them before Jace spoke again. "You there? Or did I put you to sleep?"

"No, you're only boring when you're talking about yourself. I don't mind listening if you're making me sound good," Clary teased him in a soft voice, but there was absolutely no malice behind her words. "I think I should probably go to sleep now. I'm crashing at Magnus' and he always wakes up stupidly early even after we've had a late night so he can do yoga."

"I'm very aware of Magnus' yoga habits," Jace sounded as though he may be crinkling up his nose on the other end of the line. "Alec gets pretty chatty when he's drunk, and apparently the yoga allows for him to be _very_ flexible in bed." Clary let out a bark of laughter, finding it hard to imagine Alec opening up about his sex life given how stoic and tight-lipped he usually was.

"Yeah, well..." she drifted off. "Thanks, Jace. Thanks for...Talking."

"No problem, Clary," Jace whispered to her in the phone. He didn't hang up, and there was this comfortable silence that stretched between them for a few beats before Clary pulled the phone away from her ear and ended the call.

It was weird, this sort of friendship that she had developed with Jace over the past few weeks.

They had slept together, and then she had avoided him. They had run into each other, and he had told her that them sleeping together had met something, and then they hadn't spoken about it again, talking about everything _other _than their feelings. Sure, she hadn't told him that she felt anything for him, but she had a feeling that he knew. When he came into _Hypnotica_ on a weekly basis, he didn't sit there and ogle at her and make her uncomfortable even though he made it very clear that she was the only reason that he was coming in. Usually he came in with Alec, and they would have a few drinks and talk and laugh, and Clary would be lying if she said that she didn't watch him through lowered eyelashes whenever she had a spare moment. And then he would drive her home, and sometimes they didn't talk, they just listened to music, or other times he would ask about Isabelle and Max, or how work was. It was never anything deep and meaningful, and yet they were some of her favorite conversations of the week.

And he had been the first person that she had wanted to talk to when she was confused about Magnus' offer.

Not Isabelle.

Not Simon.

_Jace_.

"I'm way too tired to think about what this means," Clary sighed heavily as she dropped her phone onto the carpeted ground next to her, letting her head sink into the fluffy pillow. Sleep consumed her just a minute later.

* * *

It was almost one in the afternoon, and Isabelle had just gotten back from her lunch break. Simon had needed to work right through lunch today, so she had ended up going for a walk down the block to where there was a little cafe, sitting there and having a coffee, reading a book that she had kept in her handbag. She was now sitting in front of the computer in the front room of the accounting firm, when her cellphone started ringing.

Another bonus of having the office job—it wasn't frowned upon taking personal calls, as long as they didn't interfere with her actual job.

"Clary, hey!" Isabelle greeted her with a smile, making sure to keep her voice low so that she didn't disturb the other secretary who had a desk a few meters away from her. "You didn't come home last night, I assume you stayed at Magnus'?"

"Yeah, it got pretty late when we were at the club last night, so I just ended up going back to his place," Clary sounded as though she was somewhere crowded and busy, and her voice was raised so that Isabelle could hear her properly. "Sorry, I meant to text you to let you know, but I went to sleep pretty much as soon as I got back to the apartment.

"No, it's okay. At least you've been crashing at Magnus' and not Sebastian's," Isabelle replied.

"Yeah, Seb's kind of...Out of the picture now," Isabelle could just see Clary shrugging on the other line. "I don't know, haven't really spoken to him in a while. Got better things to focus on."

"Fuck yeah you do," Isabelle agreed maybe a little bit too enthusiastically because the older secretary nearby her gave her a narrow eyed look. "Anyway, what's up? I'm assuming there's something you want to tell me which is why you're calling me rather than waiting until we see each other next?"

"Yeah, there is actually," Clary fell quiet and Isabelle could hear the chatter in the background.

"What's up, babe?" Isabelle asked softly.

"Magnus made me an offer last night," Clary finally began, before proceeding to relay the conversation that she had had with Magnus and then with Jace. When she finished, Isabelle sounded as though she was trying so hard not to squeal that she was wheezing down the line. "Okay," Clary was probably rolling her eyes at this point. "You can now make all that noise I can hear you trying to swallow back."

"Oh my god, Clary!" Isabelle was once again getting glares from the other secretary, who had been a grumpy old bitch since day one, so she was just going to ignore her. "Oh my god, tell me you're going to do! You're going to do it, right? Please tell me you're going to do it!"

"Yeah," Clary breathed down the line. "I talked to Jace—"

"Wait, you talked to Jace about this before me?" Isabelle sounded a little affronted. "Bitch."

"Yeah, well, moving on," Clary continued. "I talked to Jace, and yeah, I'm going to do it. I'm going to enroll for these classes at NYU. The price of the course isn't too bad, not with the money I'm getting from Magnus, I'm actually managing to put away some savings, and I don't have to pay for the full six months upfront."

"Hold on, are you there now? Is that why there's so much noise around you?" Isabelle asked.

"Yeah..." Clary giggled down the line, and Isabelle felt a surge of happiness for her friend. "And I've just been called up by the admin lady, so I gotta go."

"I love you, babe," Isabelle said into the phone.

"Love you too," Clary sung back before the phone line went dead. Isabelle pulled the phone away from her ear and stared down at it for a moment. Then she was getting up from her desk and walking quickly down the hallway toward the office where Simon's room was right at the end. Simon looked up in surprise as she shut the door behind her, smoothing her hands over the purple fabric of the knee-lenght skirt she was wearing.

"Iz?" Simon raised an eyebrow at her as she stalked over to him, gripping the arms of his chair and spinning them around to face her. "You good?"

"Yup," she answered, popping the 'p'.

"You lok pretty damn happy," he observed.

"I am," Isabelle grinned as she pulled up her skirt so that she could straddle his legs and push their lips together. "I'm very happy." Simon let out a surprised noise, and then he laughed and wrapped his arms around his girlfriend, more than happy to kiss her back.

* * *

Signing up for the course had been weirdly easy. She had thought that there would be some kind of hoops that she needed to jump through, especially since she hadn't even finished school. But because she had gotten good grades, despite her terrible attendance record, and also because it wasn't a full on degree, it turned out that she didn't actually need to do all that much.

There was a bunch of paperwork, and she had to pay half of the course upfront, and then...That was it.

She started the course in a month's time.

When Clary walked out of the gates of the University, her whole body was thrumming with energy. She was wearing a thin green dress with tiny white polka dots, wearing white slip on shoes, and she was practically bouncing up and down on the sidewalk. She had text Isabelle as soon as she had walked back out of the administrations office, and she had gotten back a text of congratulations, all in capital letters. She chewed down on her lower lip as she moved from foot to foot, replying to Isabelle's text before sending off a message to Jace, asking where he was. His response was quick, saying that he was almost done with a meeting at a fancy restaurant and they could go out for sundae's afterward.

Clary searched the address of the restaurant online and found it was only a couple of blocks away from where she was, which worked well, given she really didn't want to be stuck in a taxi cab right now—it was a nice day and she was in a good mood, not wanting to be stuck inside a cab. So she dug out the headphones from her handbag, plugged them into her phone and turned her music on loud as she started walking toward the restaurant.

Maybe she sang a little bit too loudly to Marina and the Diamonds as she practically skipped toward her destination. But it was New York, there were a whole lot of people doing weirder things right next to her, so she only got a couple of funny looks out of the corner of some peoples eyes. She didn't care—wasn't as if she was ever going to see them ever again, and she was in too good a mood to give it a second thought.

She got another text from Jace just as she reached the block, telling her that he was just leaving now and could meet her somewhere if she wanted. She didn't bother replying, because she could already see him with a couple of other men, older, all of them wearing suits and looking very professional. He looked different from the other times she was with them, wearing a slim fitting suit and a tie, all the buttons done up and his hair slicked back, looking very put together and mature. There was that flutter in her stomach as she caught a glimpse of him and she had to bite back her smile.

"Jace!" Clary called out, tugging at the cord for the plugs in her ears and started wrapping them around her phone. "Jace!" She repeated, a little louder as she got closer, and she saw him lift his head, trying to find the source of the person calling out to him. His face broke out into a grin when he saw her. "Hey!" She dodged around the last person before she was standing in front of him and an older man who was looking at her with a curious expression.

"You that keen on sundae's?" Jace teased.

"Something like that," Clary shrugged, unable to hold back her wide smile, staring up at him as she came to a stop in front of him, petite in front of his over six foot stature. Jace stared down at her, his golden eyes dancing and his red lips pulled upwards in the corners, and suddenly she was launching herself forward, wrapping her arms around his neck and sealing their lips together.

_Now, something that I wanted to ask everyone, is if you can all check out the upcoming stories on my profile, and let me know what your top three picks would be? Just so I have an idea of the ones that people are looking forward to and can focus on those :)_

_The things that I'm into at the moment are Charles/Erik from _X-Men_, the reboot trilogy, with Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy. Holy shit. So beautiful. Completely obsessed. And then it's like I've become re-obsessed with Derek/Stiles from _Teen Wolf._ The songs I've had on replay are _Can't Fight This Feeling_ by Justin Timberlake, which I know has been completely overplayed, but it's just such a happy song, I'm totally in love! And the second one is _Last Night On Earth_ by Delta Goodrem, which is just so sweet. And the last one is _Give It Up To Me_ by Sean Paul and Keyshia Cole, an old one._

_Right! So, I'll be back next year, pretties :) Until then, one last review? Pretty please? And I'll send out a preview :)_

_Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year to you all :) xxx_


	23. Chapter 23

_Okay! So I'm back! And I'm back early, you may notice! I was planning to update until next week but I've had so many reviews and messages on here and on Facebook asking for me to post earlier, so here we go! Uh, I've also had a lot of people asking why I decided to take a break for a while—almost two months! Holy shit! I'll keep it brief so you can get on with reading...1) Life! Real life always comes first and it's been super busy. 2) Health. This definitely comes into the 'real life' category, but something that some of you will know is I deal with some insane headaches and migraines on an almost weekly basis and at times work is draining enough, I can't come home and sit in front of my computer and type/edit. 3) Response. So many of you guys are incredible. FUCKING INCREDIBLE. But that doesn't discount the occasional nasty review or message which really hits home when I spend so much time pouring my heart into these stories :(_

_Anyway, on with the story!_

Jace was surprised at her move, but it only took him a split second for him to catch up, and she felt his lips turn up against hers as he looped an arm around her waist, holding her petite body against. It wasn't a deep kiss, their mouths were still closed, but it was sweet, and it made Jace's limbs feel warm and relaxed. When they pulled apart, Clary was grinning up at him, not a hint of regret or remorse in her face, and she reached back up on her tip toes, touching their noses together adorably before she landed back flat on her feet.

"Hi," she smiled at him, sucking the corner of her lower lip into her mouth, looking a little embarrassed, as if her brain had just caught up with her body and realized what she had done.

"Hi," Jace replied, a little breathless. Clary smile grew and she tilted her head to the side.

"So...Milkshakes?" She suggested, bringing up his earlier response to her text.

"Sounds like a plan," he agreed. Her eyes flickered to the side and Jace remembered that he had just come out a business meeting, and that there were probably still quite a few of the shareholders and other men around them. He glanced back and saw Hodge just finishing up conversation with one man and he approached the young couple.

"You heading off now, Jace?" Hodge asked with a friendly but curious glance toward Clary.

"Sure am," Jace nodded. "I just need to get the valet to bring my car around."

"And who's your lady friend here?" Hodge purposefully held out his and Clary reached forward and gripped it firmly, giving it a shake.

"I'm Clary," she told him, her voice even and meeting his eyes.

"Hodge Starkweather," Hodge introduced himself, and Jace noted that the smile seemed to become more genuine after she had spoken and shaken his hand. "You the one who's been distracting him from the nasty blonde bimbo that he was stuck with before?" He raised an eyebrow at Clary smirked as she shot a look at Jace out of the corner of her eye.

"Nah, can't take the credit for that," Clary responded. "Although I wouldn't have any problems if he needed me to help dispose of the trash." Hodge let out a bark of laughter that caught the attention of several of the other men who were still waiting for the valets to bring around their cars, or to hail down town cars. Hodge's came was called out by the valet and he nodded over his shoulder before glancing back at Jace and flashing another smile at Clary.

"I'd keep her around, kid," he grinned. "She seem's like fun."

"Bye, Hodge," Jace rolled his eyes and Hodge waved jovially before walking off toward the car. Clary let out a laugh under her breath, but Jace's caught in his throat as he saw one of the other men who were watching him.

Stephen.

He had been able to ignore his father over the past few weeks, even with these meetings where he was constantly face to face with him, but the way that Stephen was now regarding Clary made Jace's skin crawl protectively.

"Let's get out of here," he announced, putting one hand on her lower back and directing her over to the valet station. He gave his slip over to the valet to go and get his car, and he couldn't help the fact that his body stiffened as there was movement behind him and he caught a whiff of the expensive brand of cologne that his father was wearing. Clary seemed to feel his discomfort because she looked at him sideways questioningly but didn't say anything.

"Here we go, sir," the valet announced as he saw the other valet driving up to them in a silver Porsche.

"Ooh, you got the fancy one today, huh?" Clary teased him lightly as the driver got out and passed over the keys to Jace. Usually he made a point of only driving the Honda Civic when he picked up Clary, but he had had no idea that she was coming, and so he had driven his favourite car into the meeting today. Jace gave her a smile and then shot another look over his shoulder to where his father was standing, waiting for the valet to call him a town car. Stephen met his eyes, his expression stoic, and Jace clenched his jaw before moving forward to open up the passenger door for Clary.

"Here you go," he murmured as Clary moved to get inside.

"Is that him? Is that your dad?" She asked in a low voice as she put her hand on the door and he made to move away and walked around to the drivers side. Jace just answered by way of a short nod and Clary tilted her head to the side as she looked back at Stephen. Then she flashed the sarcastic smile that Jace found so ridiculously attractive, and lifted up her hand and proudly flashed him the middle finger.

Stephen's stunned expression got rid of the tense feeling in Jace's shoulders and he let out a bark of laughter as he got into the drivers door and Clary slid in next to him, slamming the door behind her.

"Take me somewhere," Clary announced. Stephen was still staring wide eyed at them through the window, but Clary just kept her eyes forward as Jace waited for an opening in the traffic an then pulled away from the curb.

"There were a lot of important people still back there," Jace told her. "A lot of people that are high up in the business."

"And? I'm sure your father is explaining away the reason why common street trash is pulling the fingers at him," Clary snorted.

"Street trash?" Jace raised an eyebrow across at her.

"Hey, I see the way some of those rich fat cats look at me," Clary shrugged, not looking too bothered. "They just see my non-designer brand clothes and my lack of big expensive jewelry and their heads go to one place." Jace frowned over at her and Clary reached across the centre console, digging her nails playfully into her ribs. "Don't worry, I don't think that you look at me like that."

"Good," Jace muttered. "Because I don't."

"I know," Clary gave him an easy smile and relaxed back into the leather seat on the passenger side. Her easy seated position only lasted about half a minute before she was leaning forward again and pulling her pack of cigarette's out of her handbag and tipped one onto her palm, turning it over and over as something to keep her hands busy.

"You can light up, if you want," Jace told her after watching her movements for a couple of minutes.

"No, it's fine," Clary shot him a teasing look. "I know how precious you are about your cars. I only lived with you for a week, and I heard you talk about them as though they were your actual living babies."

"They are my babies," Jace grumbled in annoyance under his breath, but there was no malice behind his voice. "But you're clearly filled with a ridiculous amount of nervous energy—actually what is going on?" They came to a stop at a set of traffic lights and Jace looked over at Clary, who's knee was bouncing up and down and she was spinning the cigarette in her palm. Her green eyes were dancing and alive, and Jace wanted to reach out and touch his thumb to the flushed skin of her cheek but he kept his hands on the wheel.

"I enrolled for that course," Clary blurted out.

"Seriously?!" Jace grinned widely at her. "Oh my god, that's awesome! That was—that was fast."

"The course doesn't start for another month or so, but I enrolled now so I could put down my first payment and save for the rest," Clary winced a little. "Plus, I figured that if I did it now, and put down the deposit, then at least I couldn't back out, because the deposit is non-refundable." Jace opened his mouth to say something when there was a couple of angry toots behind him and he realized the light had turned green.

"Fucking NY drivers," he muttered as he accelerated forward. "That's awesome, though, Clary. How many days will it be?"

"It's just a course, rather than needing to take actual classes all day because of a degree," Clary said. "Uh, they give me the schedule..." she leaned back down to where her handbag was on the ground and fumbled through some papers, pulling out what looked like a schedule. "Okay, so there's classes on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, three hours a day. So that's not too bad," she made a face. "They're still charging an arm and a leg for it though. But...Magnus says it'll be worth it. And I guess that if that doesn't work out, I'm going to have the certificate behind me." Jace pursed his lips together from stopping saying what he wanted to.

He wanted to offer to pay for some of her tuition—hell, he would be more than happy to pay for the whole thing, he knew that he wouldn't miss the money from his account, but she would take it as an insult. Clary was strong and independent, and just the fact that she had decided to take this course was a big enough of a step for her, he didn't want to push her into making her uncomfortable.

"So where are we headed?" Clary asked as Jace navigated the traffic easily.

"I'm taking you out to a place that Alec and Isabelle's father owns," Jace told her. "It's quiet, and me and Alec head out there sometimes when we want to get away from the noise of the city."

"Sounds good," Clary smiled, but as soon as the conversation was over, she started fiddling with the cigarette in her hand again.

"Just smoke it. I'll give you the pass as a congratulations," Jace let out a laugh. "Open the window, and blow the smoke outside." Clary gave him a relieved smile, finding it a lighter and pressing the button to lower the window. She lit up the end of the cigarette, glowing cherry red, and sucking on the other end and holding it in her lungs. Her eyes closed as she leaned her head against the headrest, her arm out the window so that the smoke didn't linger in the car. Jace's fingers twitched around the wheel as her lips parted and blew the smoke outside.

He loved that mouth of hers.

He'd only felt it against his a couple of times, but it was seared in his memory.

"What you staring at, hm?" Clary teased lightly, glancing over at him as she tapped her cigarette so that the ash on the end fell away, sucking on it again and watching his reaction carefully. Jace rolled his eyes and grinned, shaking his head, knowing that she was very aware that he was checking her out. "So how far away is this place?"

"Maybe another twenty minutes or so," he told her. "It's in the industrial section." Clary nodded, the cigarette clearly calming her down as she fell quiet and her knee stopped bouncing up and down. Jace turned the music up, knowing that Clary liked the DJ that was playing at the moment because she usually sung along when it played on the nights he took her home. Once she finished her cigarette, she then lit up another one, and despite the half frown that he gave her, he didn't mention anything.

Josh was at the security post again, and he grinned and waved the two of them through the gate. He also promised them that they would have the security cameras redirected for the next hour or so to give them some privacy, try and keep the spot by the water tower hidden for a little longer. Clary looked around in interest, out the window at the workers in the orange and yellow fluorescent jumpsuits.

"This doesn't really look like your kind of scene," she noted with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey, I'm pretty sure that quite some time ago, at the beginning of this beautiful friendship of ours—" Clary let out a snort. "—we agreed that we weren't going to judge each other."

"Hey! I'm not judging!" Clary answered with a placating smile. "I'm just making an observation." Jace rolled his eyes at her and had to slow down his car as they reached the gravel road. It was another drive of about five minutes until they reached the old shed in front of the water tower. He parked his car carefully behind the shed, so as not to draw any unnecessary attention, and then turned of the engine.

"Come on," he wiggled his eyebrows at her as he got out of the car. The air was crisp and smelt fresh, which was a little strange given how many chemicals were being pumped into the air just a couple of minutes away from them. But the wind must be blowing in the right direction, pushing the smell away from them, and it wasn't anywhere near as polluted as the air in the middle of the city. Clary got out of the car, looking around in surprise and taking in a deep breath through her nose.

"Shit, it smells good out here," she murmured.

"I know, right?" Jace came around to where she was standing, reaching out and grabbing her hand, tugging her toward the flimsy wooden fence which only came up to is hip, that wound it's way around the water tower. "Come on," he repeated and lead the way over the fence. Clary had no problem hiking up the skirt of her dress as she climbed over the fence, and Jace redirected his gaze from seeing any further up her smooth thighs. "It's around here," he said, capturing her hand again and linking their fingers together. He tried to over think how small and warm her hand felt in his, they had done a whole lot more with each other than just hold hands, but it still felt significant. Especially when she moved a little closer to his side, bumping her hip playfully against his.

"You bring all your girls here?" She asked as they got around to the other side of the water tower, the grassy hill right behind it catching a lot of the afternoon sun.

"You saying you're my girl now, Clary?" Jace teased her, giving her a lazy smirk and meeting her gaze. He didn't expect her cheeks to flush at the words before she let out a huff and pulled her hand away from his, running up the hill with her arms spread out. Jace followed more slowly, having no problem with just watching her. Clary reached the top of the hill and spun around to face him, before collapsing on her ass and falling backwards so that she was laying on the hill.

His girl.

He liked that idea.

Problem was, he really had no idea where her head was at.

Despite the way things had been with them in the past few weeks; the laughing and teasing and occasional long looks out of the corner of her eye when he took her home, and then the late night call and the abrupt kiss just before...He wanted her to tell him straight where he sat with her.

"Come up here!" Clary shouted down at him, her voice carrying in the wind, and Jace grinned as he walked up after her. He didn't spare a second thought about his expensive suit jacket as he stripped out of it and laid it down on the grass for something to rest his head on. Clary was still beside him for a moment before she moved, tilting her head to the side to rest against his shoulder.

"I'm proud of you," Jace told her quietly after a few minutes of sitting there under the afternoon sun. He felt her shrug and he frowned, twisting his neck so that he could look at her. "No, Clary. Be proud of yourself. This is a good thing, this is a good opportunity. I think you're a bit too hard on yourself sometimes, but you've done something great, and you need to take a moment to appreciate it." He stared at her intently and Clary swallowed before ducking her head. Jace smiled as he looked back up at the sky, which was practically clear of any clouds, and his smile grew when he felt her fingers twine together with his again, this time Clary being the one to initiate it. He took in a deep breath, figuring now was as good as any to try and talk to her.

It wasn't very often that she seemed as unguarded as she did today, but then maybe it was a nod of confidence in his direction that she was more and more like this when she was around him.

"I meant what I said to you a few weeks ago, when I took you home that first time? After seeing you at the shop with Magnus?" Clary made a noise in the back of her throat, indicating she knew what he was talking about. "I was just—I kinda wondered—" this wasn't coming out right. "Well, I was sort of—"

"Do you want to know if I like-like you, Jace? Is that what you're asking?" She was teasing him again, but Jace didn't have time to form a response before she was sitting up and swinging one of her legs over his hips so that she was straddling his waist. The dress that was wearing pushed up around her thighs, and when she leaned forward and braced her hands on either side of Jace's head, he felt slightly breathless. He lifted his hands to rest on her hips, feeling the warmth of her skin through the thin fabric, and her hair was falling forward like a red curtain around their faces, sheltering them from the burning sun.

"I wasn't going to phrase it quite like that," Jace managed to say as he adjusted to the change in position. "That seem's just slightly pre-school."

"What can I say?" Clary shrugged and grinned. "I live with a kid who's got a crush on a little girl with pigtails and wears a green crocodile gumboots to school. I hear all about the differences between liking someone and like-liking someone. Thought I'd go with what I know."

"As if you have no idea of the adult connotations behind like-liking someone," Jace smirked up at her, one of his hands moving from her hip and running lightly through her hair. He pushed it aside so that he could cup her jaw, brushing one of his thumbs over her cheek. She stared at him for a beat before her eyes fell to half-lidded, his fingers continuing to draw invisible lines on her cheek, touching her nose, before his pointer and middle finger rested on her lower lip. They were dry and warm against his digits, and he felt a puff of her breath against his hand. When he didn't move his fingers, her eyes opened again, and they were a darker green than they had been before.

He just gazed up at her. Clary seemed okay with it, lowering herself onto her elbows so that her hands could move and touch his hair. She looked so different from the first few times he had met her; with the dark eye make up and almost constant furious and cagey expression on her face. She had barely any make up on at all, in fact, he could count the light freckles that were spattered over her nose, and her face was open and smiling.

"I do, ya know," she whispered to him, their lips so close he could feel the movement of her mouth as she formed the words.

"Do what?" Jace had completely forgotten what they were talking about, completely focused on the softness of her body pressing into his and how good she smelt.

"Like-like you," she gave him one last flash of a smile before she let their mouths come together. It was soft and almost innocent, and the whole thing made Jace's body ache in a way he wasn't used to at all. The hand on her hip moved so that it rested on her lower back, holding her against him, but not in the way where he was trying to align their crotches. More just a loose grip, because he wanted to feel as much of her as she would let him. Her lips closed around his upper one, and he felt the first touch of her tongue against the seam of his mouth, slow and tentative. He opened his mouth for her and he felt her sigh, dipping her tongue into his mouth.

The movements were slow and the despite being outside in the fresh air, it felt thicker around them, and Clary couldn't stop the shiver down her spine as she felt Jace's fingers curl into her dress. He wasn't trying to change the pace of the kiss, or turn it into something more. In fact, judging by the way his chest was moving under hers, his breathing quickening, he was just as affected by the kiss as she was, even at this slow place.

Clary slowly pulled away from him, only putting an inch or so between them, so that their noses were still brushing together. He opened his eyes before her, looking at her reddened mouth and reveling in the feel of her breath against his cheeks. When she opened her eyes, his golden gaze was like molten lava, rolling over her body, and the way he lifted his head off the ground to rub his nose against hers lightly did all sorts of weird things to her stomach. Jace pressed one last kiss to her mouth, chaste and sweet, before laying his head back on the ground, against his suit jacket.

"Well, I don't know about Max, but I hope that our whole like-liking thing means more of that," Jace told her with a smile. Clary snorted slightly, in a very unladylike manner that was exactly Clary, and rolled off him. She didn't flatten herself out on the grass again though, she slung one leg over his and kept her head on his shoulder, practically glued against his side. And then they just lay there, under the sun. In the distance, they could still hear the sounds of the traffic in the city, and police sirens, and there were occasionally shouts from the works of Robert's industrial plant, but other than that, the world seemed still around them.

It was perfect, and when Jace had to take Clary back home, because she had promised Isabelle that she would be there in time for dinner, he didn't want to let her get out of the car.

_Right! So...How was it?_

_I've got lots of recommendations I want to make coz I've been away for so long, but I'll just throw a couple out there. Movies—_Moana_! It was amazing. So was _Rogue One_, which I didn't expect to like because I'm not a big fan of Felicity Jones, but it was incredible, and Diego Luna is my new love. And a couple of songs I'm in love with at the moment are _Falling For You_ by Lyon Hart and _Dangerously_ by Charlie Puth._

_Alright, so, tell me...Did you guys all have an amazing Christmas/New Years? Me and my hubby always travel for Christmas to see extended family, but it was just a quiet one at home with a couple of his family members, so that was nice. And for New Years we rented out a house by the beach with a couple of our close friends, so that was amazing._

_Tell me what you guys got up to, and leave a review._

_And if you guys want a preview of the next chapter, just ask, and I'll throw one out there ;) Don't forget to check out the new multi-chapter stories, which you guys all voted on, as well as a bunch of new oneshots I've written. I've gone and put some of them up :)_


	24. Chapter 24

_Next chapter, beautiful people! I apologize for any mistakes made. _

"What's with the big smiles, hm?" Isabelle said knowingly at breakfast the next morning. "You could barely stop last night, and you're still doing it now. You take a ridiculous amount of molly or something?"

"No," Clary rolled her eyes. "I didn't have any molly."

"I have a girl named Molly in my class," Max announced as he spooned his cornflakes into his mouth. "She's pretty. She has hair like a white horse." Clary and Isabelle both blinked at the boy before Clary let ot a snort.

"Like a horse?" She asked with a grin, resting her elbow on the table and putting her chin in her hand. "What do you mean by that, little man?"

"It's white," Max shrugged. "Like a white horse." He continued eating as his mother and Clary exchanged looks over his head, grinning.

"You better hurry and finish, babe," Isabelle said as she slid off her stool and picked up her plate and coffee up. "We need to get you to the school bus." Max nodded and quickly started eating. Clary moved away from the breakfast bar as well, letting out a sigh as she realized that she needed to be at the strip club in a few hours. "Go up and brush your teeth," Isabelle said when Max finished his bowl of cornflakes and pushed the bowl away from himself, toward the centre of the bar. "And you—" Isabelle pointed a finger toward Clary. "You tell me what's got you grinning like an idiot?" Clary paused for a moment, before shrugging.

"Jace," she admitted and Isabelle's eyes widened.

"So something has actually happened between you two? As in, other than all these ride homes where you claim to be behaving yourself?" Isabelle smirked.

"Yeah, something like that," Clary mumbled, looking down at her hands.

"You're going red again," Isabelle noted and Clary just rolled her eyes over at her friend.

"Shut up," she muttered. "I need to go have a shower and shit, I need to get ready for a shift." Isabelle's expression changed from teasing to serious.

"You really need to calm things down," Isabelle's mouth twisted. "Seriously, you're hardly ever here anymore, I don't think you're getting enough sleep!" Clary shrugged, although she agreed. She was working a whole lot more than she used to, and another big part of that was the travel involved, and the late nights where she would stay after closing with Magnus. "Please tell me that you're seriously thinking about quitting. Especially now that you're enrolled in those classes—you're not going to have time once they start to be working two jobs!"

"I am, Iz, I promise," Clary gave her a half smile.

"Good," Isabelle turned around to start washing their breakfast dishes. As Clary started walking toward staircase, Isabelle called out to her. "I've invited Alec, Magnus and Jace over for dinner on Monday, so make sure you're free then." Clary paused and looked back at her friend with a raised eyebrow. "Hey, I just want to see my brother," Isabelle grinned over her shoulder. "And if it means that you get to see your little boy toy as well, then that's just an added bonus." She heard Clary snort, and then her footsteps on the stairs as she went up to her room. Isabelle couldn't stop smiling as she washed the dishes. Max was running around upstairs, and she heard him laughing as Clary gave him a fright. She finished the dishes and stepped away from the sink, wiping her hands on a tee-towel and pulling out her phone.

_You hurt her, I'll break your face._

She got a response back almost instantly.

_I wouldn't expect anything less._

* * *

"So? So? So?" Magnus was poking Jace in the shoulder from where he was sitting in the backseat. "What's going on between you and Clary?"

"I don't like your boyfriend, Alec," Jace stated with a roll of his eyes. "Can I kick him out of the car?" Alec didn't respond, just rolled his eyes and looked back down at his phone where he was scrolling through her phone.

"So?" Magnus prompted again, this time a little more intently, leaning forward between the two front seats and staring at Jace.

"I thought you and her were besties or whatever," Jace muttered. "Talk to her about it."

"But I'm talking to you," Magnus stated, a wide grin on his face. "I want you to tell me."

"You're like a teenager!" Jace grunted.

"You're avoiding my question," Magnus sung out, tapping his fingers against Jace's shoulder, and the golden haired man tried to shrug off his touch, but Magnus just laughed. "Come on! We've got another fifteen minutes to go, I feel like we can fill a lot of information into that time."

"Or, alternatively, you two can shut up," Alec finally grouched.

"Aw, I love how sweet you are," Magnus teased, sparing a glance for only a split second at Alec before focussing back on Jace. "So?" He pressed again.

"Oh my god!" Jace cried out in exasperation. "I don't understand why you're so adamant about this!"

"Because your shit storm of an engagement with that blonde chick who turned out to be bangin' your daddy was just goddamn depressing, and Clary is the sweetest thing around, and I think the two of you could be happy together if you actually got over your stubborn shit and got together!" Magnus blurted out, surprising both men in the front seat. Jace's body jerked slightly, giving Magnus a sideways look before focusing back on the road, flexing his fingers around the steering wheel. The three of them were silent for a few minutes, the only noise coming from the song that was playing through the speakers before Magnus tried again. "And Clary won't tell me the details."

"Maybe there's no details to tell," Jace reasoned.

"Then why has she not been able to stop grinning for the past couple of days at work? She's got the look of some girl who's got things going in the right direction," Magnus was relentless, and Jace couldn't help but grin ruefully and shake his head.

"Ever think she's smiling like because her job is going well and she's signed up for classes and that's what's going in the right direction?" Jace hinted.

"Because I am an extremely observant man, and I know that that pretty glow on our Ms Clary's cheeks has absolutely nothing to do with work, and is most definitely related to a male. I'm thinking a golden haired, golden eyed, handsome asshole who I believe goes by the name of Jace," Magnus smirked. Alec finally looked up from his phone and raised an eyebrow at the man.

"Not to sure how I feel about boyfriend calling my best friend handsome while I'm sitting right here," he stated.

"I'm sure you'll appreciate my good tastes," Magnus grinned. "Anyway, you're still avoiding! Avoidance is pretty damn close to denial in my books."

"Okay! Okay—_shit_," Jace huffed out as they approached the neighborhood where the girls lived with Max. "There's been some kissing."

"Kissing?!" Alec looked surprised by the confession as well, and now Jace had both Alec and Magnus staring at him. "You didn't tell me about this."

"Well, it was just kissing," Jace mumbled, suddenly feeling strange about talking about this. It was strange, because he and Alec talked about everything, even when Alec had admitted that he was completely uninterested in woman, Jace still went into explicit detail about his sexual activities. This was just _kissing_, but it felt like something a whole lot more intimate that what he had had with experienced with any of these other girls.

"If it was just kissing, then why are you blushing?" Magnus commented, and Jace's eyebrows pulled together, glaring out the front window, trying to ignore the warmth in his cheeks.

"I'm not blushing," he mumbled as he reached the girls house and pulled over to the side of the road. There were a few other cars parked on the road, none of them looking anywhere as nice as Jace's Ferrari, and he could already see that it was getting attention from a couple of people who were walking down the street. "Should have brought the Honda. I would have if I hadn't been out all day and just picking you guys up before coming out here."

"I can second that," Magnus grunted. "I don't know about you guys, but it's not particularly comfortable here in the back seat."

"Trust me," Alec snorted. "Jace has spent plenty of time in the back seat of this Ferrari. He's never really complained about it not being comfortable." Jace rolled his eyes at that and lightly punched his friend in the arm before opening his door.

"Okay, when we get in there, please don't make any mention about me in the back seat of any car," Jace stated over the roof of his car as he looked over to where Alec and Magnus were now straightening up. "And, just for the record, I was _not_ blushing," he finished with a hiss as he locked his car and started walking toward the concrete steps leading up towards the girls home.

"Were to," Magnus replied under his breath and Jace shot him one last glare before knocking on the door. The door opened and Clary was standing there, wearing a pair of sweatpants and a tank top that clung to her slim figure. Jace licked his lips as he looked her up and down—her make up free skin and her messy red hair that was tied back from her face—and his greeting got stuck in his throat. Magnus snorted behind him and pushed past, throwing his arms around Clary and giving her a loud kiss on the cheek. "Hey there, biscuit! Looking gorgeous as ever in this trailer trash chic look you've got going on." Clary rolled her eyes and then smacked him lightly upside the head before stepping aside to let the three men into the house.

"Uncle Alec!" Max called out from the top of the steps, a wide grin on his face. "Jace! Magnus!"

"Hey, buddy," Jace smiled up at Max, feeling a little bit better now that he didn't need to focus all of his attention on Clary. "How's it going?"

"Good," Max thundered down the steps, making a surprising amount of noise for someone so small. "Are you staying here again?" He asked as he tugged on Jace's hand. "Could you play _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles_ with me? Simon got me Master Splinter!"

"I'm just here for dinner tonight," Jace said with a wince, feeling bad when he saw Max's face fall. "But I'm sure we'll have some time after dinner." The smile was back, his dimples appearing and his eyes twinkling before he skipped off toward the kitchen, where an amazing smell was coming from.

"Pretty sure my nephew likes you more than me," Alec muttered as they followed after them, Magnus and Clary already in the lounge, leaning against the back of the couch and talking.

"Can you blame him?" Jace smirked. "I'm pretty awesome."

"And so modest," Clary piped up from where she was standing a few feet away, and Jace felt his heart beat a little faster in his chest. It was ridiculous, given he had seen her naked, and they had slept together, and they had actually _lived_ together for a week, but it wasn't until after they had talked the other day that he had started feeling like this.

Feeling kind of stupid, to be honest.

Sort of unexplainable and mushy.

Whatever it was, it had left him with a dopey smile on his face.

"Alright! Dinner will be ready in about five minutes!" Isabelle called out from the kitchen. "Max, can you go up and wash your hands? And Clary—go have your cigarette now because I don't want you get up halfway through dinner to have one." Clary scrunched up her nose and made a big deal of rolling her eyes, while Max ran back upstairs.

"Fine, _mum_," Clary drawled, sliding off the back of the couch and walking over to the door.

"Simon, can you get the chicken out of the oven?" Isabelle asked. "And the vegetables and potato's will be about ready now as well."

"Shit, Iz," Alec raised his eyes, impressed. "This smells amazing."

"Thank you," Isabelle shot him a grin, and Alec joined his sister and Simon in the small kitchen, the three of them talking. There was the sound of an alert on Magnus' phone, and Jace glanced over at the man who was still sitting on the back of the couch. He pulled it out of his pocket and raised his eyes as he read whatever it was on screen.

"What's up?" Jace asked, moving over to stand next to Magnus.

"Your girl," Magnus replied as he turned his phone around and Jace saw that it was an update from one of those online blog updates. He didn't read them, but occasionally is name came up and someone brought it to his attention, but this time it was a photo of Kaelie and someone that he vaguely recognized.

"You got an alert to your phone when something got posted about Kaelie?" Jace asked in disbelief.

"I'm friends with you weirdly famous people now," Magnus shrugged, not at all abashed. "It's interesting." Jace made a face. "Anyway, do you recognize the guy?" Magnus wiggled the phone in front of Jace's eyes. "His name is—" he broke off to look back at the screen. "Meliorn. That's a weird name. Meliorn. He must be rich," he mused. "I couldn't imagine your girl being with someone who's anything less than a millionaire." Jace tipped his head forward in agreement to that. "Meliorn Hassouné," Magnus announced as he got further down the article.

"Uh, right," Jace clicked his fingers. "That where I know him from. His dad is some big oil tycoon. I've met him at a couple of events."

"There's speculation here about your relationship being over," Magnus continued. "Apparently she went out without wearing her engagement ring."

"Oh, right," Jace made a face. "The engagement ring. That was actually chosen out by her and paid for by my father, all part of the big agreement with her father—they wanted her to have the big fancy ring," he shrugged. "I don't really give a shit if I get it back. And something else?" His eyes shifted toward where Clary was finishing off her cigarette and leaning through the doorway to make fun of something that Simon was saying. Max ran back down the stairs and made a direct beeline for Clary, so she stubbed out her cigarette and wrapped her arms around him, squeezing him tight. "She's definitely _not_ my girl."

"Yeah," Magnus made a ridiculous face. "I can see you're looking for someone else to get that title." Jace ignored Magnus and walked over to Clary, who gave him a small but warm smile, as she rested her chin on top of Max's head.

"Dinner smells good, mama," Max called out from the doorway where he and Clary were standing. Isabelle blew a kiss in her sons direction and he giggled back at her. Jace couldn't help but watch Clary intently, at the easy expression on her face as she wrapped her arms loosely round Max's shoulders, watching as Isabelle and Simon started dishing up their dinner onto the plates. Her shoulders were slumped forward, showing how comfortable she was, and when Max tipped his head backwards to look up at her, Clary stuck her tongue out at him playfully, and he did it right back.

He couldn't even explain how weirdly happy that made him.

This whole thing was kind of crazy.

But he was just going to go with it.

"Careful there, pal. You look like you might start drooling," Magnus murmured in Jace's ear before brushing past him to join everyone else in the kitchen. "So, baby girl! You looking forward to starting your classes?" Clary made a face at him. "I've been talking to Camille about it, and she's more than happy for you to start helping me out more, and she's keen for you to get the certificate behind you."

"I think that's pretty weird that she's willing to trust me to help you out with her club—her baby, as you've described it—someone that she doesn't know," Clary stated.

"She's not! She's trusting me," Magnus informed her with an easy grin. "And I'm the one trusting you," then he shrugged and wriggled his nose. "Besides, if you suck, then I can just fire you." Clary lifted up one of her hands that was resting on Max's shoulders to pull the fingers at Magnus, and he and Jace both laughed. "First of all though, we need to get you through that course."

"I was never really the best at school," she replied with a wince.

"That was just because you skipped all the time and kept getting in trouble for smoking up in the gym toilets," Simon pointed out and Jace looked over at Clary, who just shrugged with a grin.

"But she's good at homework," Max piped up. "She always helps me with my maths and social studies."

"Do you think it's pretty cool that she's going to be going back to school?" Magnus looked down at the little boy. "To a grown up school?"

"Yeah, she's super smart," Max grinned back up at Clary and then pulled away from her to grab the plate full of roast chicken and vegetables that Simon was holding out to him. "Can I eat in front of the TV?" He asked Isabelle hopefully, glancing over at Clary as well.

"No," Isabelle rolled her eyes at him. "We're going to pretend that we're a functional family who eat at the table and talk to each other at dinner time since we've got guests tonight." Max didn't look particularly happy about that, especially since there was a _Transformers_ movie playing on the TV. "You've got this movie on DVD, you can watch it after dinner." Max still stuck out his lower lip in an adorable pout but nodded and walked his plate over to the table. Clary lifted up the remote from where it was on the table near him, turning off the TV in the lounge before getting her own plate from the breakfast bar.

The food was just as good as it smelt, and it went well with the orange juice that Simon pulled out of the fridge. Magnus, Isabelle and Clary were the ones that carried most of the conversation, Max's little voice speaking up when he wasn't stuffing chicken and pumpkin into his mouth. Halfway through the dinner, Jace started slightly when he felt warm toes brush against his ankle, but when he looked across the table, he saw Clary glance at him across the table before going back to talking to Simon. No one seemed to know what was happening, even though Jace felt as though it was written all across his face, and he stretched out his legs further under the table, closing them both around one of her ankles. He heard her falter in her sentence, but quickly recovered, and he felt her return his pressure.

Playing footsies was probably once of the most immature signs of affection, and strangely enough, it had never been something Jace had done before.

"Hey, Max," Alec murmured once almost everyone had finished eating. "Should we go find that _Transformers_ DVD your mum was talking about now?" Max nodded his head eagerly and then looked sideways at his mother.

"Go on," Isabelle nodded. "You're excused. Just take your plate up to the sink." Max smiled and slid off his seat, taking his plate and utensils up to the kitchen bench and putting them in the sink, Alec close behind him. The pair of them looked quite similar, with their dark, wavy hair and big eyes, and obviously Magnus' mind was making all kinds of connections as he watched the two of them walk into the lounge, one of Alec's hands on Max's shoulder. His face had softened and there was a tender look in his eyes as both of them knelt in front of the TV cabinet and talked quietly, rifling through the DVD cases before finding the right one.

"Careful there, pal. You look like you might start drooling," Jace leaned over and mimicked Magnus' earlier words. He got a withering look from Magnus and he let out a short laugh.

"I'm going out for a smoke," Clary stated, getting up from the table. "Don't you even think about doing the dishes," she jabbed a finger in Isabelle's direction. "You cooked the dinner, we'll take care of the clean up." She walked over to where she had put down her pack of cigarettes and her lighter, but instead of going onto their little adjoining balcony, she walked out of the room and down the hallway, and Jace knew that she must be going out the back door to sit on the steps. Jace was proud of himself; he managed to stay seated for all of two minutes before excusing himself from the table and following after Clary.

"Hey," he said softly as he nudged open the backdoor with his toe. Clary was sitting on the concrete back steps, her hair no longer pulled back in the bun, falling over her shoulders and around her face. There was a cigarette between two of her fingers, the end cherry red and smoke curling upwards.

"Hey," she replied, not bothering to turn around as he came down two of the steps and sat next to her. After a moment, he let one of his knees fall to the side, so that it was pressed against hers. She didn't say anything, but he saw a small smile on her face, which she quickly hid when she put the cigarette between her lips.

"So, I was thinking..." Jace began tentatively.

"I thought I could smell something burning," Clary's upper lip curled and Jace huffed out a breath, nudging her in the side with his elbow. She grinned back at him before taking another pull from her cigarette.

"I was thinking," he repeats, his voice a little firmer this time. "Two things. One, is that you and me need to go out on a date." Clary practically spat out her cigarette, and Jace wasn't too sure how he was supposed to take that, so he just kept right on talking before he lost his nerve. "A proper, honest date where you wear high heels and let me open the door of the car and help you get out." She was still staring at him, her eyes wide. "And the second thing was that I know you've been spending a lot of time at Magnus' place, since you've been needing to spend a lot of time in the city because you're working late nights. And you're probably going to need to spend even more time there coming up because of that course you're taking. I haven't been to Magnus' place, but Alec's told me about it, and I know it's only one bedroom, so you've probably been spending a lot of time on the couch—"

"Get to the point, Jace," Clary prompted gently, stubbing out the cigarette on the concrete and resting the butt in a glass ash tray.

"I have a whole hotel," he summed up, his eyes flickering to the side, and she could tell that he was nervous. "I can make sure that there's a room available for you there, whenever you need it. You don't—you don't have to stay with _me_, I don't want you to think that you owe me anything, it's just I wanted..." he was loosing his train of thought because Clary rested her hand on his arm. "I wanted to do something nice for you." Clary's smile was soft and sweet, and Jace wanted her to smile like that forever. Sure, he absolutely loved her sarcastic, hard-edged side, but she only smiled like this for so few people, and it made him feel so special to have her smiling like that at him.

"I'll think about it," she promised, before leaning in and pressing their lips together. Her lips were still warm from the cigarette, and dry, and her fingertips pushed against his skin just above the elbow. Jace had just twisted his body for a better angle when the door slammed open behind them.

"Aunty Rissa! Aunty—_ew_!" Max came to an abrupt halt, and then pouted as they pulled apart and looked up at him. "Why does everyone keep kissing?" He whined and both Jace and Clary let out a laugh.

"Why? You feeling left out?" Clary teased as she got to her feet with a gleam in her eye.

"No!" Max replied stoutly.

"I think you might be," Clary teased and suddenly lunged forward. "Come here! I want a kiss from my favourite boy!" Max let out a surprised laugh and ran off squealing back into the house, Clary chasing after him. Jace grinned as he watched them go, getting up and following after the two.

_Happy Valentines day to you, beautiful people! My song recommendations this time are _Wild Things_ by Alessia Cara. Pretty much anything by her actually, a massive thank you to my babe reppinda5o3 for making me listen to her in the first place. Then there's _Paris_ by Chainsmokers, and _Please Don't Go_ by Joel Adams. All songs I'm obsessed with at the moment._

_Something that I forgot to make mention of in my last update—and I can't believe I forgot because I was a total mess when it happened—was Carrie Fisher :( OMG. It was so horrible to hear about her passing, and then her mother. My heart goes out to their family. _Star Wars_ and Princess Leia will always hold such a special place in my heart xx_

_Please leave a review, let me know what you guys think! If you're logged in and you ask, I'll send out a preview :) xx_


	25. Chapter 25

_So we've got Jace and Clary starting to actually see each other as a couple, and loosen up around each other. You guys all seem to be enjoying the development, so on with the story!_

"Are you serious?!" Maia looked extremely excited for a girl who was standing in the middle of a room in just a black thong and a halter neck that was more sheer lace than actual material covering her. She looked overjoyed to see her friend handing in a resignation at the strip club, and talking about a man that she had just started seeing. "This is amazing! I'm so proud of you!" Clary grinned and then took a step back to balance herself as Maia threw her arms around her, pulling her in for a tight hug. "And that's Jordan's friend, right? The cute one with the blonde hair?"

"Gold," Clary responded automatically and Maia raised an eyebrow as she stepped back.

"Gold, aye?" Maia smirked.

"Well, it's kinda..." Clary was glad that they were standing in the dimly lit club because her cheeks reddened slightly. "It's kinda goldy-blonde..." she made a face and Maia let out a laugh. "Anyway, I'm gonna go, before I say anything else that is going to make you look at me like that." Maia was giving her a knowing look and a smirk and Clary rolled her eyes.

"Don't be a stranger, okay?" Maia said. "I'm gonna miss working with you."

"I'll miss working with you," Clary replied before looking around her. "Although I'm not going to miss working here."

"Ain't that the fucking truth," Maia grinned, which quickly turned into a scowl when her name was shouted from behind the bar. "Yeah, Marty, I'm coming!" She growled back, throwing up the finger at him. "Anyway, go! Go and be free."

"I'll see you around, Maia," Clary smiled one last time before turning around and walking out of the club. It had been a short conversation with the manager as she had told him that this was officially her two weeks notice. Isabelle and Simon had been pushing her to hand in her resignation for some time now, and even though Magnus said that he had worked two different jobs while he was putting himself through University, he had told her that was because it was a necessity, and it was different for her. She hadn't been certain about giving up her job at the club, about giving up the security that she had there. Even though Magnus had been kidding the other night about firing her if she didn't do a good job as 2IC, it was still a very real possibility. It was something that could happen, and then she would be left without income, and with the student loan hanging over her head.

But she was ready to take a chance.

Again.

It seemed as though she had been taking quite a few of those ever since Jace and Magnus had come into her life.

But it felt as though they were all good chances.

Clary breathed in deeply as she stepped outside, feeling a whole lot lighter than she had in a while. She had a good job now, she was signed up to go to University so that she could become better qualified for her position—something that she never thought she would do—and she's got a...A guy. Not exactly a boyfriend, but a guy.

"Clare," came a call to her right and suddenly the breath she had sucked in came out hard, feeling her good mood deflate.

"Of course you show up just as everything seems to be going right," Clary retorted as she shoved her hands into the pockets of her jeans and changed direction, walking slowly toward the car where Sebastian was standing.

"Oh, really, Clare?" Sebastian made a face at her, something that was probably meant to look as though he was hurt by her words, but she knew that they really didn't cut as deep as he was making out. They were never more than fuck buddies, without the buddies part really, and he had too much of a thick skin to be bothered by an off handed comment. "Why don't you let me give you a ride home?" He stepped aside an waved a hand at his car.

"No, I'm fine," Clary replied evenly.

"Aw, come on, you just going to walk?" Sebastian raised an eyebrow. "I'm just offering you a lift, it's not a marriage proposal."

"Yeah, not to sure if you're ever going to make one of those," Clary snorted. Sebastian just grinned and shrugged. She sighed as she pulled her phone out of her pocket and looked at the time. It was almost three, and she promised Max that she was going to pick him up from school today and they were going to go out for ice cream. The school was only about a ten minute from their home, but it was still going to take her about twenty minutes to get there. "Fine, give me a ride. But that's all this is."

"Sure thing," the way that Sebastian's grin grew told her that he really thought that there was going to be more than a ride home involved. She ignored it, getting into the passenger side of the car. Sebastian got in and turned the key, pulling out of the awkward sized car park and onto the ride. His car smelt heavily of weed, there was a ripped condom wrapper on the ground by her foot, and there was fast food wrappers strewn over the ground and the backseat. After being in Jace's car, which was tidy and he treated like a human baby, she was definitely more judgmental of other peoples vehicles. "So where have you been? I haven't seen you around in what seems like forever."

"I've got a job in the city," Clary replied idly as she looked out the window, watching the familiar neighborhood pass by. She was trying not to think about sitting her with Sebastian, her mind returned to something that she had been thinking about ever since Jace had spoken with her about it.

Using one of the rooms in his hotel.

_His_ hotel.

She had a friend who had a _hotel_.

"Clare?" Sebastian gave her an expectant look and she blinked, realizing that he had been speaking to her.

"What?" She asked.

"I said, where's the job?" He repeated, sounding a little annoyed.

"It's just at another club, with a friend," Clary responded, not willing to give him too much information.

"Oh yeah?" Sebastian gave her an interested look but she just raised an eyebrow at him, her lips pursed into a straight line. His eyes narrowed as he realized that she wasn't going to say anything else, and he looked back out the front window as he turned down her street. There was a tension in the air that made Clary shift in her seat. She wasn't used to feeling like that with Sebastian, generally there was quiet if they weren't fucking or getting high, but the silence didn't feel like this.

A big part of that could be because she now wanted more than just the fucking and getting high, and she definitely didn't want it with Sebastian.

"I've missed seeing you around," he seemed to decide on a different tactic.

"No, you haven't," Clary rolled her eyes. "You've missed the sex."

"Same thing, right?" Sebastian smirked as he pulled up outside her and Isabelle's place.

"No, actually, it's not," Clary retorted as she took off her seat belt and looked over at him. "Look, Sebastian, it's over. Me and you had fun, and it's been great, but we were never going to be more than...Than _this_," she waved a hand between herself and Sebastian. "You don't want anything more, and I do, and I want it with someone else."

"With that pretty boy who was staying with you?" Sebastian sneered, his upper lip curling. Clary's eyes widened slightly in surprise and Sebastian just shrugged as he shifted his grip on the steering wheel. "Yeah, I knew about him."

"It wasn't exactly something I was hiding," Clary replied. "But it's also none of your business." Sebastian shrugged again, glancing over at her. "Anyway, thanks for the ride."

"Yeah, guess I'll see you around," he said.

"Maybe," she didn't bother making any more small talk, or giving him a parting smile. It wasn't as though they were friends, although as she opened the door to get out of the car, she wondered if maybe she should say something else to him. So it wasn't a proper relationship, but it was as close to one as she had ever come, and when she stepped out of the car, it was going to be officially over, even if she had known that it was ending for a long time. "Uh," she scratched the back of her neck uncomfortably. "Good luck?" She honestly had no idea what she was meant to say, and Sebastian gave her an incredulous look.

"Yeah, as if I need luck," he answered with a roll of his eyes. "One cunt is just as good as the next." Clary's attempted smile fell off her face and she got out of the car, slamming the door behind her.

She wasn't missing out on anything by leaving him behind.

Sebastian pulled away from the curb and he accelerated down the road. She watched him go, and then turned to jog up the steps to her house. She checked the time on her phone, noting that she still had a few minutes to spare before she needed to leave to pick up Max from school. The shirt she was wearing smelt like the strip club, cheap perfume and cigarettes and this cloying, sticky smell, and Clary wanted to change out of it before going to pick up the little boy. On her way back out of the house, there was another man waiting for her on the sidewalk.

A man that she actually _wanted_ to see.

"What are you doing here?" Clary asked, her lips starting to tip upwards.

"Scenery?" Jace held out his arms wide as he looked up and down the street. "Drive to clear my head?"

"Oh?" Clary smirked. "Well, then, you won't be disappointed if I don't invite you to come and get ice cream with me and Max." Jace stuck out his lower lip and batted his eyelashes at her.

"Now that's just mean to hold out on an opportunity to see my little man and ice cream," Jace pouted. He kept on talking, undoubtedly going on about how unfair it was that she was threatening to withhold ice cream, but she was still stuck on the 'my little man' comment. It made her stomach do weird flip flops. Max was one of the most important people to her in the world, and the way that Jace had so casually included him in a way that made him sound important to him as well did funny things to her heart.

She practically flew down the last few steps and pressed her smile against his lips. Jace was mid-sentence, but he stopped talking to return her kiss straight away. He tasted like he had been drinking coffee, and Clary knew she must taste of cigarettes, but she wanted more than the superficial taste on the surface. She pushed her tongue into his mouth, curling it around his and feeling his hands rest at her lower back. When they pulled apart, Jace took a moment before opening his eyes.

"What was that about?" He mumbled with a raise of his eyebrows.

"I can't just kiss you? I thought that was one of the plus sides to going steady with someone," Clary tilted her head to the side, her arms still around his neck.

"Oh, so we're going steady now?" Jace teased, although there was a hopeful note to his voice.

"Well," Clary bit down on her lower lip as she shrugged and tried to play off her words. "Yeah, I guess. Whatever." She began to skip toward his car, but he reached out and wrapped his fingers around her wrist.

"I want to," he stated, sounding a little uncertain of the words. Clary blinked at him. "I want to...Go steady with you." Clary actually looked as though she was blushing slightly at his words and tried to play it off with a roll of her eyes and a jerky nod of her head. She hoped that Jace knew that she agreed with him, but it really wasn't something that she wanted to have a conversation about, at least not now.

"Yeah, well, this conversation seems a little high school for me," she stated as she pulled her hand away from him. "So you having ice cream with us?"

"Sounds good," Jace gave her an easy smile that made his golden eyes twinkle, and it seemed as though he knew what she was trying to say without actually using words. "You working tonight? I can give you a ride in."

"Nah, not until tomorrow," Clary replied as she got into the passenger side of the car and waited for him to get in. He was driving the Honda, which meant that he had driven here with the intention of driving out to see her, he hadn't just been driving around and then visiting her was an afterthought. Usually he drove his Porsche, sometimes his Ferrari, and while Clary liked the luxury of both cars, she felt more comfortable in his Honda, and so whenever he came out to see her, or picked her up from work, he made an effort to bring that car. "And guess what?"

"What?" Jace gave her a side look as he turned the engine of the car on and pulled a u-turn, heading in the direction of Max's school.

"I handed in my resignation today," Clary grinned, feeling that lightness inside again, the same feeling she had when she had walked out of the club that had been shot down when she had seen Sebastian. "Was feeling pretty damn good about it as well before I came outside and Sebastian was standing there." She heard Jace suck in a sharp breath at the mention of the other man and she gave him a curious look before continuing. "So I've got two weeks left, and I'm only doing one shift a week now, and then I'm free. It's going to be...Weird," she crinkled up her nose.

"It'll give you some more time off, at least until you start your classes," Jace commented. One of the things that Clary appreciated when he had been encouraging her to resign from the job at the strip club, was that he never made her feel as though she was doing something to be ashamed of, and needed to leave it behind. His reasons were that she was working herself ragged at both jobs, and that was exactly what Simon and Isabelle were saying.

"Yeah, I guess," Clary shrugged.

"And..." Jace trailed off as they reached the street that the school was on and pulled up behind the line of cars where parents were waiting. "And Sebastian took you to hand in the resignation?"

"No, he was just there when I came out," Clary answered as she took off her seat belt. She made a face. "Isn't it fucking weird? That whatever it was me and Sebastian had was the longest relationships I've ever had."

"Yeah, well, the longest I had ever had was with Kaelie, so what does that say about me?" Jace retorted.

"That we're both fuck ups?" Clary laughed. "Anyway, I think I've made it pretty clear that I'm moving on from that—from him." Jace's eyebrow twitched and she grinned. "Why, were you worried?"

"About what?" Jace made a face at her, but she saw the way his lips tightened in the corners and how he wasn't meeting her eyes. It wasn't ever an expression she had seen toward her, but she had seen it a hundred times when boyfriends had come into the strip club and seen their girlfriends sashaying around, and especially when Simon saw Isabelle smile at pretty much any male.

He was jealous.

It was such a pathetic thing to make her heart beat faster in her chest, but before she climbed out of the car, she stretched across the centre console of the car to give him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Don't worry, you're currently in the top five or maybe six males in my life that I like, probably somewhere under Magnus and Dave Franco," she told him with a wiggle of her nose, and Jace's lips relaxed into a smile. "Now, I gotta go get Max, and then we're going for ice cream, yeah?" She got out of the car and headed toward the school where the kid were all beginning to file out of the gates toward the waiting school bus and the mothers. Jace watched her go, his eyes resting on her ass for a split second before they shifted to a much more PG scene of Max skipping toward her, dragging his backpack behind him.

He really never thought the day would come when his smile grew bigger when he was watching a girl give a little boy a hug rather than from just staring at her ass.

Clary was doing all sorts of weird things to him.

Of course, when a gust of wind whipped by and made her skirt blow up, giving him a quick glimpse of her upper thighs and a hint of the light blue underwear that she was wearing, he enjoyed that a whole lot as well.

* * *

"What are you smiling so big about?" Magnus whispered in Clary's ear, appearing behind her. The red head started in surprise, and then turned around to face him, resting her elbows on the bar behind her.

"I'm in a good mood," she stated. "You got a problem with that?"

"Absolutely no problem at all, doll face," Magnus smirked at her as he looked around the club, watching the girls dancing on stage and the rest of the clientele. "I'm just wondering what's behind it," he looked back at her and wiggled his shaped eyebrows. Clary rolled her eyes at him and then turned toward the door. It was just after one in the morning, the doors officially closed at eleven, given how full the club already was, but sometimes one of their VIP's showed up and she needed to go out to greet them.

"Maybe I'm just in a _really_ good mood," Clary repeated, sticking her tongue out at him. "Because I resigned from my old job, and I'm working somewhere I don't have to put up with creepy bastards sticking their hands all up in places that they shouldn't be, and I've just enrolled for a course, which I never thought I would be a chance to do?" She almost ran out of breath by the time she finished her spiel and Magnus just waited with a raised eyebrow and then grinned.

"And those are all things to be very excited about," Magnus replied easily. "But _that_ particular smile has something to do with a male, and I'm thinking it probably has to do with a male named Jace." Clary breathed out through her nose and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, alright, okay," she shrugged and grinned, not looking at all abashed by the admission. "It's Jace." Magnus' eyebrows shot up in surprise at that and she gave him a look. "What? You expect me not to say it?"

"Well, you have seemed pretty hesitant in the past to admitting the way you feel about him," Magnus commented.

"Hey, I'm not getting into all the feelings shit with you," Clary crinkled up her nose. "I'm way too fucking sober for that, and last time I checked, you weren't Isabelle or Simon, so you don't get let into that part of my head." Magnus pouted and Clary laughed. "We're not a thing or anything, we're just...Seeing each other. Or something..." she trailed off and narrowed her eyes as she thought, staring down down to where Lydia and another one of the girls were twisting around each other on stage. They were wearing these netted body suits that had glittered splattered over their nipples and the apex of the legs, making sure to hide only their most secret places. It wasn't so much dancing that they were doing, more just some insanely acrobatic moves, their legs bending so their feet were behind their heads and balancing themselves with just one arm extended.

"Something?" Magnus prompted. Clary looked back at Magnus, her fake eyelashes fluttering against her glittery dusted cheeks.

"Yeah, something," she nodded. "And that's all you're getting from me."

"Right, well, if we're done with your life, I guess we can always move onto mine," Magnus grinned widely.

"Ooh yes, tell me more about my best friends brother who seems to glare even when I know you must be screwing him well," Clary gave Magnus a wicked smirk. "Come on, he must be a uninhibited in bed, right? Those uptight ones always are." Magnus grinned, picking up the tumbler of glass with scotch in it, swirling the liquid around before throwing it back.

"Oh, the things I could tell you about that man," Magnus breathed, his gaze drifting off to the side as he got lost in thought. Clary giggled and nudged him.

"Tell me, tell me," she urged.

"I don't think so," Magnus fired back with a cheeky grin. "You'll never be able to meet him in the eye again." It was Clary's turn to pout, but she had something else on her mind.

"Have you guys..." she wasn't too sure how to phrase it, licking her lips and tipping her head to the side. Her long hair was straightened, falling over her shoulder, which was exposed in the gold strapless dress that she was wearing. "Are you guys going to come out? Like, as a couple? I mean, I know _you've_ got no issue with it, but Alec's a bit different."

"He's spoken with his parents, that was a big thing," Magnus replied, his voice soft. "And that was the first step. Everything else—we'll take it as it comes," he looked over at Clary, a small, genuine smile on his face. "I love Alec, and I know he loves me. Him telling his parents was proof enough of that, and I can wait a little bit longer for him to figure the rest out." Clary wasn't too sure what to reply to that, because the whole tone of the conversation had become a whole lot more serious, and it wasn't really the time or the place to continue that. The music was suddenly coming to the end of the song, and the girls on stage were blowing dainty kisses out to their adoring audience before skipping backstage. It was Magnus' turn to go up on stage and address the audience. He straightened out his jacket and his tie, and then he leaned in to speak in Clary's ear. "You and Jace keep up whatever it is you've got going on, because that smile looks damn pretty on your face."

_OMG! How many times have you guys watched Jenna Dewan-Tatum's dance to her hubby's _Magic Mike_ song? She's so fucking hot! Her and Channing are my fave celeb couple *sigh*. Out of those Lip Sync battle performances, I don't know if it's the Tatum's who are my favourites, or the Hough siblings, coz Julianne and Derek are just baaaaabes._

_So for another story that I'm working on, can you guys give me job/career ideas of what you imagine our TMI characters having in an AU world? Clary, Jace, Izzy, Simon, Alec, Magnus, Kaelie, Maia, Raphael...Etc etc. Let me know in the reviews or in a PM._

_Also, can we just take a moment to appreciate how beautiful Chris Evans and Jeremy Renner looked at the Oscars? Holy shit. And how Taraji P Henson absolutely slayed on the red carpet? She's so fucking _gorgeous_._

_Please leave review!_

_And if you're logged in and want a preview, let me know xx_


	26. Chapter 26

_I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, we've got some sexy times in this one :) I apologize for any mistakes made in this chapter. _

Clary made a face as she stood in front of Jace's apartment building. She had a plan to go and see him, but she wasn't even sure that she was going to be let in the building—she really hadn't thought that through. She was dressed in an off the shoulder Halestorm concert tee-shirt with a cropped leather jacket and a pair of skinny jeans with purple converses. She didn't exactly look like the kind of person who belonged in a building like this.

"Miss?" Came a call from the doorway, and Clary shifted her gaze, frowning when she saw the doorman giving her an expectant look. "Are you coming in?" It was Mike, the guy with the funny hat, and Clary took a few steps closer to her.

"Uh," Clary pursed her lips and tilted her head to the side. "Am I...Allowed in?" She didn't like the way it sounded, like a child asking for permission, but she really had no idea what sort of protocol had to be followed here.

"Yes," Mike gave her a small smile and a nod of his head. "After you came here the first time, Mr Wayland made sure to put you on the list. Go to the front desk and give your name, and they will call up to see if he is in his apartment." She already knew that he was, because they had been snap chatting and he had said he didn't have plans for the rest of the afternoon. That was when she had decided to take a taxi over to his apartment building once she had finished up helping Magnus for the afternoon. Clary grinned at him as she stepped into the building, pausing one last time to look back at Mike.

"I promise I'll talk to him about that hat," she sung out, and instead of looking surprised like he had last time, Mike just shook his head slightly and smiled. Just like the first time she had walked through the lobby, Clary felt completely out of place here—the building just smelt expensive—and her gait was awkward as she approached the front desk. "Hi," she muttered to the older woman behind the desk, who looked at her over the rim of her glasses. "I'm here to see Jace Wayland." The woman pursed her lips as she looked her up and down, reaching forward to tap a few keys on her keyboard and looking a the screen.

"Can I have your name?" She asked primly.

"Uh, Clary," Clary responded. "Clary Fray." The woman's fingers stopped tapping and then she smiled a genuinely warm smile.

"Oh, of course," she nodded. "Mr Wayland just ordered room service about ten minutes ago, so I know he's in. Just head straight up to the penthouse, you can use the elevators just there," she pointed over to the row of gleaming elevators. "In the future, you'll need a key card to go directly into the penthouse, which you can get from Mr Wayland, but I'll override the system this time."

"Thank you," Clary was surprised by how easy that was, and how friendly the receptionist had been once she heard her name. She wondered what Jace must have said as she walked over the elevators and pressed the button for the penthouse. The elevator whizzed upward, making no stops on the way up, and then when it came to a stop it opened directly into a a lush looking room rather than a hallway, like all the other floors would have. She raised her eyebrows as she looked around.

This was the sort of room that she had seen on TV, but never in real life.

"Well," she let out a low whistle as she stepped forward, her feet sinking slightly into the thick carpet as she continued out of the entrance way, which opened up into an open plan room, a lounge and a kitchen to her right. The wall in front of her was a complete window, overlooking the city. The lounge suite looked too expensive to even sit on, and the flat screen TV that was hanging on the wall had to be over the double the size of their one back at home, and there were all sorts of expensive and abstract knick knacks and art works scattered throughout the room.

"You're not my burger and fries," came a voice from her left. Clary turned to face him, arching her eyebrow.

"You offered to let me stay in a building with these rooms?" Was how she greeted him as he walked forward, closing the distance between them. "I would never be able to afford to stay in a place like this!"

"That's what mates-rates are for," Jace shrugged and grinned, reaching forward and giving her a brief kiss on the cheek before walking into his kitchen area. Clary walked into the lounge, running her finger along the back of the leather of the couch and then rested back against it, crossing her arms. "You want a drink?" Jace asked as he took a bottle of chilled water from the fridge of the cap and offered it out to her.

"No, I'm okay," Clary shook her head.

"So, you finished with Magnus for the day? Or do you have a shift tonight?" Jace asked as he came over to stand directly in front of her.

"Nah, I'm all finished," Clary answered, idly reaching out to hook her finger in one of the front pockets of his jeans, tugging him closer. "I just thought that I would come and see you. When we were texting you said that you didn't have any plans." Jace smiled at her, letting her pull him in until they were standing hip to hip. "So I thought I'd come over here...We could not have plans together..." Jace grinned as he twisted the cap of the bottle back on then dropped it behind her, onto the sofa.

"What sort of 'not plans' did you have in mind?" Jace tilted his head to the side, leaning in close so that his nose bumped against hers before he pulled back slightly.

"Well, those plans definitely included less clothes," she replied suggestively. Jace was about to reply when the elevator pinged and he stepped away from her, putting some space between them as a man in a uniform stepped into the pent house pushing a silver cart. Clary waited for him to speak with the man bringing their food, her mind still thinking about what she and Jace could get up to once they were alone. They'd only had sex once, and while there had been kissing since, they hadn't done anything else.

She had a plan to change that today.

"I really don't plan on eating this now," Jace grinned as he turned back to Clary, who tilted her head to the side.

"There's other things I'd prefer you eat," Clary responded and she saw a flash of heat in his eyes.

"That was a terrible segue," he said as he ignored the food and came back over to where she was standing beside the couch. "I expected better of you."

"Eh, I'm no stranger to terrible pick-up lines," Clary shrugged as he leaned in so that there was barely any breathing space between them. He gave her a brief kiss on the forehead, letting his lips trail down to her temple and then moving back so he could see her face. "I listened to Simon awkwardly hit on Iz for years. Although I've never been the kind to use them, and I tend to punch guys in the face if the try to use them on me."

"Strangely enough, I find that pretty adorable," Jace smirked.

"I'm not adorable," she narrowed her eyes at him playfully. "Max is adorable."

"Well, you're a different sort of adorable," Jace shrugged, leaning back on his heels. Clary's lips twitched as she followed him back, their lips brushing together, once, twice, before they connected properly in a soft kiss. They pushed back on each other a couple of times, mouths still closed, but the pressure becoming more and more insistent, and Jace rolled his hips forward against her. He was rewarded with a shudder, and he took that as a good sign, his hands slipping underneath the hem of her shirt and touching the soft skin there. Clary pushed back against him, her breasts pressing against his chest, and Jace shifted his hands to her jacket, peeling it off her shoulders and tossing it somewhere behind them. The next thing he took off her was her shirt, and then her bra. "I seriously can't get over how gorgeous you are," Jace whispered as he looked down at her naked upper half. Clary rolled her eyes at him, putting her hands on either side of his face and bringing their mouths together hard.

"Off, off, off," she was chanting into his mouth, wriggling against him. He could feel her shifting from foot to foot as she kicked off her shoes, and her socks. His tongue pushed into her mouth and she shivered at the sensation of him tracing her teeth and the roof of her mouth, twisting around her own tongue. She had always loved kissing, but it was something that Sebastian had never really mastered the art of. Probably because he was always so concerned about coming. Jace's soft mouth sucked her lower lip into his mouth and then rested his hands on her hips, his fingers overlapping the waistband of her shorts. "You know, when I'm saying—" she broke off with a sharp intake of breath as his mouth shifted from hers and to her jawbone, his tongue pressing against her skin. "When I'm saying 'off, off, off', I'm being totally serious. _Off_!" She pushed her hips to his and he let out a huff of laughter against her neck.

His hands made quick work of the button and zipper of her shorts and pushed them off her hips, quickly followed by her underwear. Then he took a step back to look at her properly, teeth digging into his bottom lip. Sure, they had had sex before, and the first time they had met, he had blatantly seen topless, but he had never actually had the time to look her over.

"Shit," Jace let out a hiss through his teeth as he looked her up and down slowly, and he saw a pretty flush spreading down her neck and toward her chest, which was rising and falling. "You're—"

"We're really not the sappy kind of people, right?" Clary rolled her eyes, although he could see the smile that she was trying to hide as she reached out for his shirt and jerked him back into her. "Stop with the staring and the compliments, just start with giving me my first orgasm." Jace grinned widely at her.

"First orgasm?"

"I expect at least three, preferably more," Clary smirked. "So..." she had an almost challenging glint in her eye. "Get to it." Jace's lips kept twitching at the corners, in a smirk, and he dropped to his knees in front of her, his eyes never leaving hers. The smile that was on her face quickly fell, her pupils dilated and her breathing quickening. She was completely naked, utterly exposed in front of him, while he was still fully clothed. From his position in front of her, he shifted his hands to touch her ankles, and at the mere contact he felt her shiver. His fingers slowly traced circles around her ankles before travelling upward, over her calves, behind her thighs. His grip tightened, his fingers pressing in firmly against her flesh and her breathing hitched again as he forced her legs apart. Her hands fell to his shoulders, and he could feel her nails biting through the thin tee shirt he was wearing.

Jace's mouth was practically watering when he finally managed to get it on her. He started with her hip bones, licking and nipping his way over them, teasing his way toward the V of her legs without actually touching her there. He bit down lightly at her inner thigh and she made a whimpering noise that he wanted to hear again and again. Clary's hands shifted to his hair, carding through the strands before jerking on them to get his attention.

"That's not where I want your mouth," she hissed at him as he looked up at her, his lips already spit-slick from the open mouthed kisses he had been leaving across her skin. Jace just gave her a smug smile and lowered his head back to her legs, but she pulled at his hair again. "Jace," this time it was almost a whine as she looked down at him, and it took all his self control not to rip off his jeans and briefs right there and push inside her cunt, which was already wet, and he could see her juices beginning to drip down her thigh.

"I'm getting there," Jace told her, his voice firm, and then he jutted his chin forward. "Sit on the back of the couch." Clary did it without question, lifting her ass and shifting around so that she was balanced. She was at the perfect height, the sweet, intoxicating scent of her pussy directly in front of his face. In the movement, she managed to clench her thighs together, getting some slight relief from the hot ache. Jace's hands closed around her knees, pushing her legs apart so that she was exposed, and he kept pushing until her legs were separated, waiting for a protest from her, but she seemed to be quite flexible. She was spread out in front of him, presenting her most intimate part to him.

Clary's breathing was becoming quicker, and from her change in position on the back of the couch, she was a little unbalanced, and she reached out for his hair again, using it to pull him toward her and also to keep herself steady. She was open and completely vulnerable to him, and the look in her eyes was clouded with desire and trust and Jace pressed one more gentle kiss to her inner thigh before finally giving her want she wanted.

"Oh, fuck!" Clary's loud moan filled the apartment as Jace leaned forward and licked her, the point of his tongue teasing her whole before flattening and tasting a stripe between her folds. The pressure against her clit made her back snap and arch, and she pulled hard at his hair so hard the pain traveled down his spine, and then right to his cock, making him harder in his sweatpants. "F-fuck, Jace...Jace," she was panting as his nose nudged at her clit and his tongue worked her over.

Her breasts felt heavy, and if she wasn't concentrating so hard on tipping backwards into the couch and away from Jace's magical tongue, then she would be touching herself. Her nipples felt tight, and her skin was covered in goosebumps. When he finally actually entered her, curled his tongue tight cunt, she let out a breathy squeal. Her insides felt like molten liquid as his moved with each lick, touching all those right spots in her, and when one of his hands shifted from her leg and his thumb pressed her clit, a static settled over her mind.

"Come on, baby," Jace murmured as he glanced up at Clary, massaging her clit with his thumb, wanting to watch her come undone. Her breath was shuddering through her swollen lips, her head tipped back and her hair falling in a tangled mess down her back. He could see the point where she began coming down from her high, and that was when he buried his face back between her legs, his fingers strumming at her sensitive nub while his tongue delved into her.

"Shit!" Clary let out a breathless squeak, and then he felt another rush of her hot liquid flood his mouth and drip down his chin. She was holding his head firmly in place, grinding against his face as she chased after her own pleasure, and it turned him on so much that he knew there was going to be a damp spot through his pants. He moaned when one of her hands slid down, from the top of his head to the back of his neck, gripping it firmly as she came yet again, letting out another keen before he felt her pushing him away. "No, no—too much," she mumbled, her voice sounded raw. Jace grinned as he sat back on his haunches, looking up at her as he wiped the back of his hand over his mouth. He watched as the took a few moments to catch her breath, her thighs still quivering as he rose to his feet and braced his hands on the back of the couch on either side of her ass.

"You good?" He mocked her lightly and she managed a half hearted glare. Jace wanted to lean in and kiss her, but Kaelie had never like it when he kissed her after eating her out, making a face when she could taste herself on his tongue, so he hesitated.

"You're wearing way to many clothes," Clary murmured as she hooked her finger in his shirt and tugged upward. Jace grinned, lifting his arms so that she could pull it upward, and then helped take it off over his head and tossed it on the couch. As soon as he made a move to drop his arms, Clary's mouth was on his chest, her lips closing around one of his nipples and tugging it with her teeth. His eyes flashed and he let out a groan, gripping one of her hips with the sticky hand that had been touching her just minutes before. She left a few more bite marks over his chest before gripping his sweatpants and impatiently trying to rid him of them.

"Fuck, Clary," Jace hissed when he managed to get the sweatpants and briefs off and his cock sprung out, hard and leaking as it curved upward toward his stomach. Clary closed her hand around it quickly, her thumb gathering the the pre-cum gathered at the tip and using it as lube. "No," he batted her hand away. "I'm not going to last if you do that," he told her with a raise of his eyebrow and a rueful smile. Clary gave him a surprised look, before her eyes went half lidded as she realized just how turned on he had gotten from getting her off, and she lunged forward, grabbing his neck and bringing their mouths together. The kiss was dirty and wet and Jace somehow managed to focus enough to put his hands underneath her ass and lift her up.

"Shit," Clary breathed against his mouth as he walked them into his bedroom. She rubbed herself up and down his torso, the over-stimulation that she had been feeling before subsiding, and so she was chasing after another orgasm. Jace's cock was pressing against the crack of her ass as they walked, and she could feel his pre-cum rubbing off on her skin. She thought that they were going for the bed, but he walked straight past it, toward the long windows that overlooked the vast city.

"Hold up," Jace murmured, putting Clary on the ground, and she took an unsteady step backwards, leaning against the thick glass and taking in a couple of breaths. He reached into the top drawer of his dresser and pulled out a condom. He ripped to corner of the foil and slid it over his cock, shuddering at the contact his cock, which was just aching to be pushed inside the red head. Clary was watching his movements, biting down on her lips, her pupils dilated, her cheeks reddened, and Jace lunged forward again, claiming her slick lips. He lifted her up again, easily, holding her against the cold glass. She loved how easily he picked her up, and then when he positioned her body up a little bit higher, the sweat on her back smudging against the glass. She felt the head of his cock brush against her entrance and she keened, pulling away from his lips and tipping her head against the glass.

"Come on, Jace," she growled at him, trying to push herself down on him. Jace thrust once, snapping his hips forward and entering her in a brutal stroke. "Oh, fu—" her words were cut off as his cock pushed into her over and over again. Jace could feel sweat beading at his forehead as Clary slid up and down the glass, gripping at his neck. She could feel another orgasm building in her stomach, and from the way Jace was gripping her even harder, she was guessing he was close as well. "Fuck, Jace—Jace, shit, you feel—" she moved with him, bouncing up and down, her breasts moving in front of his face.

"Yeah, Clary," Jace grunted, and she brought their sticky foreheads together as pounded into her harder, chasing both of their orgasms. Clary came first, her breath hot against his cheek, and Jace came shortly after, spilling into the condom while growling her name through clenched teeth. "Shit," Jace panted against her, dropping his head to rest against her shoulder, pressing a few lazy kisses against against her arm. When he finally moved, Clary made a face at the sticky feeling of becoming unstuck from the glass.

"Ew," she made a face and Jace laughed. He moved her over to his bed, which was still unmade, and dumped her down unceremoniously. Clary pulled the fingers at him as she bounced on the bed a couple of times before wiggling her way up to rest her head on the pillow.

"I'll get something to clean up with," Jace told her and walked into the adjoining bathroom. He took off the condom, tying it off and tossing it toward the bin the in the corner of the room. He dampened a flannel, wiping himself down, and then washing it again before going back into his room where Clary was spread out on the bed. He raised his eyebrows at her as he came to sit down next to her and handed her the cloth. "You look good in my bed."

"Yeah, yeah," Clary rolled her eyes as she used the cloth to wipe down her stomach and between her legs, putting it on the bedside table and rolling onto her side to face him. Jace laid down next to her, reaching out to rest his hand on her stomach lightly. They were quiet for what felt like a long time, just resting there, catching their breath. After a while, Clary tipped her head up to look at him. "So, uh, not to completely break the moment or anything—"

"Well, last time you took off after we had sex, so pretty much anything is an improvement on that," Jace retorted.

"Anyway," Clary continued, giving him a half-hearted glare. "I was just wondering how things were with your dad. Like, half you talked to him about him and Kaelie or whatever? It must be kind of a big thing to avoid, given you guys work together and shit."

"Actually, I don't really know if this turn in conversation really is an improvement to you leaving," Jace mused, and then let out a squawk when Clary jabbed him in the side with her finger. He let out a snort, and then shrugged as his face became more serious. "Nope, we haven't talked. And honestly, I don't want to. Me and my father never really had a very good relationship anyway, so it's not like I expected great things from him. But this? This is just pain fucked up."

"It really is," Clary agreed, her words mumbled.

"My mum wanted to storm into his office, claw his eyes out, probably remove parts of his anatomy," Jace winced at the thought. "But I talked her down. They've only recently gotten to a place where they can at least pretend they're civil in the same room as each other, and I don't want to be the reason for them going back to how they were before."

"It wouldn't be your fault," Clary corrected him. "You didn't force him to do anything."

"I'm just trying to push it all behind me," Jace replied, and he shifted his hand down, curving it over her hip and tugging her closer to him, breathing in her scent deeply. "Kaelie seems to have moved on, and quite honestly, I had a long time ago."

"I still feel like you need to confront them both," she pointed out. "I reckon it would make you feel better, shout at them, embarrass them in front of their poncy little friends, maybe break a couple of things—like their noses. It would definitely make me feel better, if I was in your situation." Jace laughed and kissed her temple.

"He cheated on my mum for years, and he slept with heaps of business partners wives. He's never really cared much for boundaries. And Kaelie...Things with Kaelie were always about business, there were never really feelings on either side. For me, if was about our company, and I guess making my dad happy. For Kaelie, it was about money. It's always about money for her. Money and power. So dad," Jace gave another shrug. "That's just another power thing? I don't know," he gave her a half smile. "And I don't really care, not anymore. I'm pretty happy with the girl lying in bed, to be honest." Clary rolled her eyes at his words, but her cheeks pinked. "What about your parents, hm?" Jace wondered if she would share with him, given she knew a lot about his family at this point.

"Well," he felt her draw in a deep breath and roll over. Not exactly away from him, but definitely putting a little bit of distance between their bodies as she looked up at the ceiling. The change in grip meant that he couldn't hold her around the waist anymore, but he reached for her hand, and she willingly linked their fingers. "You know how I said I was in foster homes when I was a kid?" Jace nodded, remembering one of their earlier conversations. "My dad had some serious anger management problems, he used to get drunk and hit my mum, and yell and me and my brother." Jace remembered her mentioning her brother.

"You said you didn't get on with him," he murmured.

"Yeah. He's kind of a pushover, never used to stand up for my mum. We had court cases when we were little, you know, family court and stuff, and I was only four or five and I would talk about what my dad to my mum, but Jon would never say anything," Clary let out a breath through her nose. "He never stood up for mum, and he never stood up for me, when dad hit me around a few times. When dad took off, Jon went with him. He didn't even come to mum's funeral, and when he showed up at my foster home when I was fourteen, he was drunk, and it was years after she died. Apparently he had ended up in juvie."

"I'm sorry about your mum," Jace said, giving her hand a squeeze. "And I'm sorry you had to deal with that growing up." Clary shrugged. "Did you get on with your mum?"

"Yeah," Clary gave him a half smile. "She was awesome. I looked a lot like her—the green eyes and red hair, although obviously I dye mine a darker shade now. And—" the way she took in a sharp breath through her teeth made Jace look at her sharply, because it sounded as though she might be about to cry. But she pulled herself together and continued. "And even though dad treated her like shit, and we lived in this hole of a house, she still always read to me before I went to sleep, and walked me to school every morning and never let me see her cry."

"Sounds like you got your strength from her," Jace noted and Clary gave him a smile that trembled a little. There was an extremely vulnerable look on her face, and Jace wondered just how many people she had talked to about this. She took in another deep breath and diverted the topic of conversation.

"Anyway, my dad? I haven't had much to do with him in years. Jon has tried to come over and talk to me a few times, tell me that he's not drinking anymore. But I don't trust Jon, and I don't really want anything to do with either of them," Clary shrugged. "I'm happy with my life, and I don't need to have two more people in my life that my drag me down."

"That's a good way to look at it, I guess," Jace shuffled onto his side. "They are your family, though."

"Max, Izzy and Si are my family," Clary smiled before huffing and sitting up. "Enough depressing talk! Your food is probably cold, and I want to know what sort of room service this place gives. Especially if you're trying to get me to move in here," she shot him a smirk and looked around the room. "So? Do you have a menu or something?"

"Yeah, I'll find one," Jace rolled over and dug around in the drawers next to the bed before finding it and holding it to his chest, ignoring her outstretched hand.

"What?" She frowned at him, wiggling her fingers expectantly.

"You promise you're thinking about taking up my offer on moving in? The money isn't something to worry about, we can figure something out," he told her.

"You this pushy with the girls you see?" Clary raised an eyebrow at him.

"Only the ones that I'm seeing exclusively, and really, _really _like," Jace replied, laying himself bare. "I'm holding the menu hostage until you promise you're seriously thinking about it."

"I am! I promise!" She pouted, trying to make a grab for the menu. Jace grinned, leaning in to give her a quick kiss on the nose and then handing her the menu. "And for the record, I'm seeing you exclusively, and I really, really like you took," she muttered as she skimmed over the menu.

_Okay! So my song recommendations this time are _Eraser_ by Ed Sheeran, but let's be honest, I completely love pretty much everything by him. Also _Alarm_ by Ann Marie, which was recommended to me by Caaatttt, and _Sleepover_ by Hayley Kiyoko, although just like with Ed Sheeran, I love everything by Hayley, and her music videos are always incredible._

_Something else I wanted to ask about was if any of you guys have watched _Riverdale_? I remember reading the _Archie_ comics when I was younger, and I was pretty surprised when they decided to make a show about it. I find the show...Pretty average, but I really love some of the characters, especially Cheryl Blossom and Jughead Jones. And so, like with any fandom when I start to really like the characters, I've decided that I'm probably going to write a fic! I'm wondering if any of you guys would be interested? Let me know!_

_Leave a review, let me know what you think :)_

_And if you're logged in and want a preview, let me know, and I'll send one out xx_


	27. Chapter 27

_New chapter, beautiful people! Here we go..._

So Jace was her boyfriend.

Boyfriend.

It sounded so childish and high school, and yet it was making her stomach do all sorts of crazy things. And her heart.

Isabelle teased her endlessly about it, and Simon and Magnus got involved with the poking fun as well. Clary ignored them all, pulling the fingers at them occasionally, but generally just pretended that they weren't singing out '_Jace and Clary, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G_'. Even Max sometimes joined in, although mainly he made faces when Clary and Jace were curled up on the couch next to each other, grumbling that everyone was kissing.

It had been a month, and what was going on between them felt unrushed and natural, although Clary still hadn't decided whether or not she was going to move into Jace's hotel. Even though Simon and Isabelle had officially decided to move in together, there wasn't a date on it. They were still making up their minds as to whether or not they were going to move into Simon's place, or if they were going to find a new place. There had been a lot of stuttering on Simon's behalf when he had finally asked her if she wanted to move in with him. And even though Isabelle was excited about moving in with him, it was going to be a big change from the way she had been living with Max and Clary, and she needed time to mentally prepare herself for that.

"Okay, babes! You all ready?!" Isabelle called from the foot of the stairs where she was standing with Clary, Simon and Jace.

"I'm coming, mama!" Max called down, and they could hear his feet racing across the wooden floor. Clary laughed as she heard a bit of fumble, probably from the little boy dropping something on the ground. His head appeared a moment later, and then he was running down the steps to greet them with a wide smile on his face.

"What are you dressed as, buddy?" Jace asked with a grin on his face as Max reached them, all dressed in his costume for the school play that they were getting ready for.

"I'm a llama!" Max announced proudly. Jace turned to Clary with his eyebrows raised and trying not to let out a laugh and she jabbed her finger in his side.

"Keep your mouth shut," she grunted through her teeth. "He's so proud." Max was reciting his lines for his school play, carrying the head for his llama costume under one arm, which Simon was trying to get from him to keep safe. Jace grinned and threw an arm around Clary's shoulder as she watched Isabelle, Simon and Max all huddled around and making sure they had everything organized before they left.

"And he has every right to be proud," Jace smirked as he pulled Clary in close to him. "He's going to be the best llama there."

"As far as I know, he's going to be the only llama there," Clary tilted her head to the side and squinted. "Although there's also going to be lobster. I'm still trying to figure out how a llama and a lobster are going to be co-existing, but hey! I'm sure it's just because the school's trying to involve the whole animal kingdom."

"There's a lobster? I thought that this was taking place in a jungle?"

"Yes! Daisy is playing the lobster!" Max announced. "She's painting her whole face red!"

"Her whole face, hm?" Isabelle grinned at him.

"You remember me telling you about about the little girl who wears green crocodile gumboots?" Clary murmured to Jace. He nodded, vaguely recalling it being mentioned. "That's Daisy. The girl that Max has a crush on." Jace shook his head and grinned over at Max. "So? We ready to go?" Clary clapped her hands together and gave the others a pointed look. "We should probably be on our way or else we're going to be late." Max's head snapped up with a panicked look, his eyes wide, and he tugged on Simon's arm.

"We have to go!" He said urgently. "We can't be late!"

"Okay, buddy," Simon nodded. "Let's go."

"Are you guys taking a seperate car?" Isabelle asked as the five headed toward the front door, Max leading the way in half of his costume, Simon directly behind him with the head of Max's costume under one arm, then Isabelle, followed by Clary and Jace.

"Yeah, might get a bit crowded in there with all of Max's costume," Clary pointed out as she locked the house up behind them and they walked down the steps, to where Simon's car was parked at the curb, Jace's car just behind it.

"Whatever," Isabelle smirked. "It's because you guys want to make out in the car park before going in. You're gross. It's a primary school." Clary didn't defend herself, and she just shrugged and laughed as she blew a kiss in Max's direction before continuing to Jace's car. When she got into the car, she saw Isabelle helping Max into the backseat of Simon's car. Jace walked in front of his car, coming to sit in the drivers seat, glancing over at Clary.

"You good?" He asked.

"Yup," Clary nodded, but she was chewing down on her lower lip, and her hands were clasped together in her lap. Jace followed her eyes, to where Isabelle had shut the back door now that Max was safely inside, and Simon came around to where she was standing. Isabelle's smile that she had plastered on her face when around her son had dropped, and she leaned into Simon as he wrapped his arms around her.

"What about Iz? How's she doing?" Jace continued, sliding the key into the ignition, not turning the car on as he waited for the couple in front of them to get into their car.

"She's..." Clary's tongue stuck out the corner of her mouth, resting on her bottom lip as she watched her two closest friends. "She's fine. Max doesn't know what's going on. She's not ready to introduce them to Max and play happy families, but she said that they can come to watch the play." Jace nodded as he watched Isabelle get in the car, and Simon waved at them before he got into the drivers car and after a few moments, the engine turned over. "I've never actually met them, they've never been welcome to the house. And for good reason to," Clary crossed her arms over her chest. "If it was up to me, those fuckers couldn't come anywhere near those two."

"Hey," Jace gave her a slightly chastising look. "Look, I totally get that you've never really heard the good side of them, and with everything they did to Isabelle when she got pregnant, I can understand. But they're still good people. Not great, but good."

"Sounds like they're pretty shit, given they still weren't too supportive with Alec finally telling them he was gay," Clary muttered, her eyebrows still pulled together, her eyes narrow.

"I just said that they were good not great," Jace reminded her. "My mum is great. Despite the way she was brought up, with the money and the strict rules around how to act, she adapted as she got older. She put up with my dad for a long time, but that was mainly because of me, she wanted to be a good mum and didn't want to go through some sort of custody battle that would get ugly, especially with me being the only child. But she's always been supportive of me, and any decision that I've made. And just as usual, she's come through with Kaelie."

"Hell yes," Clary jerked her head in a nod. "I like that woman," she flashed a smile across at Jace.

Things with Kaelie were going well, and by well, it meant that there had been no contact between her and Jace. Kaelie and Meliorn seemed to be officially a thing, they had been seen at a charity event together and there had been photographs of them put up online. Questions had buzzed about her and Jace and what had happened between the pair of them, and Kaelie had answered them as Jace had expected.

Said that she had to let him go because she felt as though he couldn't totally commit to her, and she needed someone that would completely devote themselves to her. And that's what she had found Meliorn.

Admittedly that was mostly true, although definitely not the whole story.

Celine had been at the charity gala where Kaelie and Meliorn had made their first official appearance as a couple, and she had rang Jace to tell him what she was watching, and stated that she could pay off one of the waiters to tip a whole tray of crab cakes over Kaelie. Clary had been stretched out on the couch, painting her toe nails when the phone call had come through from Celine, and Clary had been cheering, telling Jace to let his mum 'go after the bitch'. Jace had been the bigger person and called his mother off, saying that he just wanted to get on with his life. Celine had muttered that she would steer clear of the younger woman, but had responded that she had liked the sound of Clary, and Jace was a bit worried when the day would come an the two would meet. He had a feeling that they would border on scary, sort of like Clary and Isabelle.

Things with Stephen were the same as with Kaelie. They were ignoring each other, giving one another a wide berth when they had to be in the same conference room or resturant as each other. Luckily, that wasn't particularly often, and rather than shadowing his father, it was Hodge who was showing him the ropes, explaining things to him. It was working well.

And now tonight, it was Max's school play, and both Robert and Maryse were coming, along with Alec. It was going to be a whole big 'family' event, and Magnus was going to come, but he had an emergency at work with a couple of the dances at the last minute. Alec had sounded upset on the phone when he had called Isabelle to tell her that Magnus was going to be there, but the siblings agreed that maybe it was best to start the parents off at one milestone at a time.

Starting with Max.

The grandson that they had never met.

And that they still weren't properly going to meet tonight, because Isabelle wasn't ready for that, and she didn't want to bring anyone into Max's life that she wasn't one hunred percent certain about.

"You're acting like an overprotective mama bear," Jace teased Clary as they followed Simon's car to the school.

"Can you blame me?" Clary grumbled as they reached the parking lot of the primary school, which was already full from the parents and faculty members, all there early for the play that was going to be starting in just over half an hour. "When I met Isabelle, she was pregnant and a mess. Her parents, these rich people living in a fancy penthouse—who could afford to support another mouth—had kicked her out on her ass to protect their reputation. That's pretty fucking unforgivable in my books. And Max is like my own kid. Yeah, Isabelle's his mum and she makes all these decisions and I'll support them, but that doesn't mean I have to be happy about them." Jace managed to find a park, and the car came to a stop. He reached out and took one of her hands, which was resting in her lap.

"You're an amazing person, Clary. Max and Iz are lucky to have you," he told her, his voice earnest. They didn't often have serious conversations, other than the original few when they had first decided gotten together, mainly because they both had a habit of deflecting. And with the way he was looking at her now, his golden eyes boring into hers, soft and adoring and sweet, it made her feel all warm and melty inside, but also a little uncomfortable in her own skin.

"Damn right they are," Clary grinned, brushing off the compliment, but giving his hand a tight squeeze to show that she appreciated it. "Now let's get in there and support the shit out of the cutest llama there ever was." They got out of their car, and Clary was leading Jace toward the main auditoriam when Jace tugged on her hand, making her slow down. "What?" Clary raised her eyebrow at him. "We need to get in—we need to get good seats!"

"Magnus is here," Jace told her, nodding toward the entrance of the car park. Clary's eyes widened in surprise and she lifted herself on tip-toe to try and see over the families that were milling around them and then caught a glimpse of Alec and Magnus walking in together. Alec was looking good, in a pair of expensive jeans and dark coloured button down shirt that was tucked in, and Magnus looked striking as always, also in a pair of jeans and a button own shirt, but his shirt had a deep v-neck and was green velvet. His eyes were smoking with some green eye liner added into the mix.

"I thought you couldn't make it!" Clary squealed as she bounced over to them and threw her arms around Magnus' neck.

"Yeah, well, I sorted out Lydia's shit, and I was able to have time to catch a ride with Alec!" Magnus grinned as he hugged her back. Jace nodded at Alec, who was looking a little nervous as he looked around them.

Understandable so, since Alec and Magnus were holding hands.

In public.

Maybe it wasn't such a big deal for a lot of people, but it was a big step forward for these two. Being out in the open, holding hands like a couple that wasn't afraid to be seen. Jace couldn't help but let his smile stretch proudly across his face as the four of them walked inside, Alec still gripping his boyfriends hand tightly. Inside was crowded, but Clary seemed to know where they were meant to be going, and they weaved through the crowd toward the front of the hall. Simon was seated, and there was some spare seats to his left, and Clary pulled away from the three men to go over to him and take her place.

"Where's our little man? Iz take him backstage already?" She asked, glancing around. There was a young family in front that she recognized from another one of the school events that her and Isabelle had come to, their boy was in Max's class, and she flashed them a smile before waving over at Jace, Alec and Magnus who were still standing a few feet away. "Don't know what the fuck's taking them so long," Clary muttered before frowning at Simon, who was sitting stock still and giving her a wide eyed look. "What's up with you? You seem tense—thought you would have loosened up a little now that you're getting some from Isabe—"

"Maryse! Robert!" Jace was suddenly standing behind Clary, giving her a pointed look that was clearly telling her to shut up, as he greeted the older couple who were sitting one seat over from Simon. Clary met Simon's wide eyed look, and made a face at him, taking in a deep breath as she leaned over Simon to look at Isabelle's parents properly for the first time.

"Hi, so you're Izzy and Alec's parents?" She greeted them .

"Yes," the woman gave her a smile that looked like it properly hurt her to do so, and the man just gave a short nod. "I'm Maryse, and this is my husband Robert."

"I'm Clary," the red head introduced herself before resting back in her seat, glad that Isabelle would take the spare seat between the parents and Simon, and she had a barrier of two people between herself and them. She heard introductions happen between Magnus and the parents, and caught an almost frightened look on Magnus' face as the three men sat down on the rest of the seats beside her. It took her by surprise, she didn't think she would ever see Magnus afraid of anything. But then again, he was head over heels in love with Alec. And even though Alec had made it clear that he had wanted to be with Magnus, his parents opinion be damned, it was still a big deal, meeting your partners parents.

"Okay! So he is all sorted, and looking like the best goddamn llama I've ever seen!" Isabelle announced as she appeared beside Magnus at the end of the asile, grinning at them until her eyes reached her parents at the end of the row of seats. The smile on her face completely dropped, and Clary felt that protective spark inside her flare up again. She felt like standing up and ordering the Lightwood parents to leave, because she never wanted Isabelle to look upset. But she kept her mouth shut, and she held Jace's hand a little tighter. "Mum, dad," she nodded at them as she walked forward jerkily, taking her spot beside Simon. She looked behind Simon's back, her eyes meeting Clary's.

"You okay?" Clary mouthed.

"I'm good," Isabelle mouthed silently back, before giving her a smile that helped to settle Clary's stomach a little bit.

The play was adorable.

Filled with little kids fumbling their lines and forgetting where they were meant to stand on stage, and teachers prompting them from the sides of the stage.

Max, of course, was the star in Clary, Isabelle and the rest of their friends eyes. He had four lines in the entire thing, and he delivered them confidently from behind the mask of his llama costume, and when they were all lined up to take a bow at the end, he was standing next to Daisy, who was dressed as a lobster.

Throughout the play, Clary looked over at Robert and Maryse a couple of times, and was surprised to see them watching intently, Maryse snapping pictures on her phone everytime Max came onto the stage. She didn't know what she expected from them, but they actually seemed to be playing the role of caring grandparents. That didn't come anywhere close to making up for everything they had done and everything they had missed, but from the way that Isabelle's expression softened as time went by, Clary was guessing that it was a good start.

"Be nice," Jace murmured as the lights in the hall all turned back on and parents and extended families were all clapping as the stage went dark. Clary pursed her lips at him and he gave her a pointed look in return.

"Yeah, yeah," she muttered, turning to look at Isabelle, her eyes skimming over the parents. "I'm gonna go backstage and meet Max," she said. "You good?" Isabelle gave her a grateful smile and nodded, and Simon tightened his arm around her shoulder. "Okay, see you soon." Jace said goodbye to Maryse and Robert, and to Alec and Magnus, and then followed after Clary.

"See? That didn't go too badly," Jace pointed out to her. Clary just rolled her eyes over her shoulder at him as they reached the hallway that lead around to the back of the stage. There were already other parents waiting there, and after a few minutes, kids starting coming out the back door. Max was wearing normal clothes now, the llama head and costume left behind, and he ran over to them when he caught sight of them.

"Aunty Rissa! Did you see me?! Did you see me?!" He crowed as he ran over to her and bounced up and down excitedly.

"Damn right I did," Clary grinned, and Jace smiled at the way her cheeks were practically glowing and her expression was pride. He loved the way she was around Max, and he could completely understand why she felt so protective over him. She had raised the boy alongside Isabelle, and the idea of two people coming in who had blatantly never wanted anything to do with their grandson, would make anyone go on the defensive. "You were the best one on the stage."

"You have to say that," Max rolled his eyes with a grin.

"Well, I don't have to," Jace piped up from behind Clary. "And I thought you were the best one." Max's grin widened and he held out his little hand, curled into a fist, and Jace leaned forward and bumped his own fist against it. "Should we get back to your seat? I know your mum got heaps of photos and videos when you were on stage."

"Yeah!" Max nodded, reaching out for Clary's hand so that they didn't get seperated in the crowds of people. They got back to their seats, where Magnus and Alec were standing, and Simon and Isabelle were still sitting awkwardly next to Maryse and Robert, none of them talking. When the Lightwood parents caught sight of Max coming toward them, it actually looked as though Maryse was going to start crying, her eyes filling with tears. Max let go of Clary's hand, first giving Magnus and Alec high fives and then running over to Isabelle. "Mama, mama! Aunty Rissa and Uncle Jace said that I was the best one on stage," he announced as he climbed into Isabelle's lap, his mothers face visibly relaxing as Max grinned up at her, his charming gap toothed smile. "Was I? Was I?"

"You were, baby," Isabelle laughed.

"You were the best llama I've ever seen on stage," Simon announced and Max nodded proudly. He seemed to realize that he was being watched by the two people on Isabelle's other side and he looked over at them curiously.

"Uh," Isabelle took in a deep breath, and the tension between everyone was noticeable. "These are some of mama's friends." Clary saw Alec's lips tighten and he reached out for Magnus' hand for support. "They've heard so much about you, and they wanted to come and see you tonight." Max nodded and smiled at them, waving one of his hands.

"Thank you for coming," he told them earnestly. Now it really did look like Maryse was going to cry, her bottom lip wobbling as she held out her hand.

"It was a pleasure," she said, her voice trembling slightly, and Max gave her a handshake. "You did so well."

"Very well," Robert added, and even he wasn't dry eyed. Isabelle licked her lips, and she looked between Simon and Clary for support. She had no plan to introduce them as her parents, not for a while, not until she knew that they were here to stay, and that they were going to be a support system for herself and Max.

"I think that it's about time we head home," Isabelle said. "It's already late, and it's a school night."

"We should be getting back into the city," Alec agreed.

"We'll walk out with you," Robert spoke up, standing up stiffly, his eyes still on Max and Isabelle. Maryse looked as though she wanted to lean down and touch Isabelle, or Max, but she stopped herself.

"It was nice meeting you, Max," Maryse said.

"You too!" Max replied, his words interupted by a yawn.

"Yes, definitely time to go home," Isabelle stated. Maryse and Robert followed after Magnus and Alec, the two men stubbornly still holding hands. Clary watched them go and then let out a long breath through her nose. Isabelle's shoulders relaxed the rest of the way and she kissed Max on the cheek, hugging him a little tighter. Simon also looked a lot more comfortable as he stood up, watching the Lightwoods disappear, and then waiting for Isabelle to stand up. The five of them walked out of the hall and then went their seperate ways to Simon and Jace's car. The ride home was quiet, and Clary spent most of the ride flicking through Jace's iPod.

"So..." Jace hummed as they parked behind Simon's car. Isabelle and Max were saying goodbye to Simon, and then he pulled away from the curb and was undoubtedly driving home, and Jace and Clary were left in his car, in the dark. "Did you still want me to stay the night?" He asked. Clary gritted her teeth together and glanced over at him. "You don't want me to stay over?"

"I think that Izzy went through a lot tonight, sitting next to her parents and letting them see Max," Clary murmured. "And I really think that she's gonna need me tonight."

"No, no, it's fine," Jace said, shifting around in his seat to face her. "I totally get it." Clary gave him a smile as she took off her seatbelt. "But..."

"But what?" Clary tipped her head to the side.

"But we can still make out for a bit in the car, right?" Jace wiggled his eyebrows at her and Clary laughed.

"Yes, we can still make out," she grinned, and the next thing she knew, she was being hoisted over the centre console and straddling Jace. He jutted his chin forward, lifitng his head to kiss her, and Clary let her body relax against his, Jace controlling the slow, gentle shift of their lips against each others.

_My song recommendations this time are _Galway Girl_ by Ed Sheeran, _Kings_ by Years and Years and _Pretty Girl_ by Maggie Lindemann. Especially the first song, I've had it on repeat for the past two weeks. So addicted. Also Calum Scott's cover of _Dancing On My Own_. Holy shit. So incredible. His audition for Britain's Got Talent almost had me and my husband in tears, he was so incredible._

_Also, I can't stop watching _Law and Order: SVU._ I've watched it on so many occasions, but holy shit, I've almost made my way through two seasons in two weeks. Haha. Olivia Benson is one of my all time favourite characters of all time...She's so amazing...Another show I'm really getting into is _Riverdale_. I thought it was quite young the first few episodes, but I'm quite enjoying it now. I absolutely love Cheryl, and I really like Betty and Jughead and Veronica as well :)_

_Leave a review, let me know what you guys think xx_

_If you would like a preview, let me know in your review :)_


	28. Chapter 28

_Hey, guys! So here we go with the next update. Also just wanting to let you know that I will be taking the rest of the month off, so no other updates until May. Just have a lot going on in my life at the moment and I'm feeling a bit stressed out. But I'll still be around, so if you want to fangirl or talk, send me a PM. From May, the updating schedule on my profile will be adhered to once again :)_

"Stop it," Clary's voice was muffled from where her head was buried in the pillows. The finger reached out again, digging lightly into her side and making her groan and twitch away again, almost completely flattened up against the wall. The hand chased after her, sliding down her back and resting at the dip over her lower back, inching underneath the elastic band of her underwear. "_Stop_," Clary growled, sounding a little more awake and definitely a little more angry. "I swear to God, I will kick you out of the fucking bed if you keep on—"

"No you won't," came Jace's cocky reply, his own voice a lot more awake. His hand slipped right underneath her underwear and gave her ass a squeeze and Clary let out a muffled squeal as she jerked away from him and batted his hand away. Jace laughed and let himself be pushed away, rolling onto his side and putting a little bit of a space between them. Clary's body was tense for a little bit longer, as though waiting for him to annoy her again. When he didn't reach out again and stab her in the side with his finger again, her body relaxed, and instead of tickling her again, he reached under the blanket and wrapped his hand around hers. "I'm hungry," he murmured, his voice low as he inched onto her pillow.

"You know where the kitchen is," Clary retorted sleepily.

"But that means I have to get out of bed," Jace complained. "This is why we should just stay at my place _all_ the time. Room service."

"Oh, poor little rich boy," she snorted. "Completely lost when you're left to your own devices."

"Hey!" Jace stated indignantly, jerking upward and jostling Clary, making her groan and finally lifting her head from the pillow. Her hair was a mess, knotted and matted against one side of her face, completely pulled out of the ponytail that she usually slept with it in given the sex they had had before going to bed. Jace couldn't help but grin as he saw the darkened patch of skin of her neck from where he had been sucking last night. Her green eyes were squinted shut, and there were a couple of creases on her cheek from the pillow.

She looked gorgeous.

"I would just like to have it noted that I'm not completely incompetent," Jace continued. "Last week when I was here, I cooked French toast for everyone!"

"Actually, from what I remember, _Max_ cooked French toast, and you were just in there supervising, because you know he's not allowed to use the oven alone," Clary smirked at him as she leaned forward. Jace rolled his eyes but leaned toward her to meet her for a kiss. At the last minute, Clary parted her lips and blew her stale morning breath over his face, letting out a laugh when he crinkled his nose.

"How charming," he muttered.

"You want charming, you know where you can find a mail order bimbo," Clary stuck her tongue out at him before throwing her leg over Jace's body so that she could maneuver her way out of the bed. She smushed a kiss against his cheek before skipping out of the room, across the hall to the bathroom, and he heard the door shut a moment later. Now that her bedroom door was open, he could hear the faint hum of the TV playing downstairs, and he was guessing that it was Max, given the kid knew nothing about sleeping in during the weekends. Simon was staying over as well, from what Clary had told him, he was there almost every day, and he and Isabelle were probably still in their bedroom. When Clary came back in, she started dressing, and Jace watched her, feeling his cock twitch against his thigh as she bent over to pick up a pair of jeans from the floor, her pert ass in the air.

"I think that maybe food could wait a little longer?" Jace gave her a half smirk, reaching out a hand to try and reach her. "Any way I could convince you to come back to bed? Just for a little bit?" Clary dodged around his hand, grabbing a shirt from where it was folded on top of her set of drawers.

"Nope," she sung out at him as she grabbed his own jeans and tossed them at him. "Come on—I can make a mean eggs benedict, but we need to go to the store and get the ingredients." Jace let out an overly dramatic sigh but dragged himself out of bed. Clary leaned against her wardrobe, waiting for him to finish dressing with an appraising look on her face, and he reached over to give her a quick kiss on the forehead before they left her room. Jace started walking toward the stairs but Clary quickly walked down one of the doors at the end of the hallway, Isabelle's room, and rapped her knuckles against the door.

"What is it?" Isabelle called from inside.

"We're going to go to the store and get some shit for breakfast," Clary replied, lifting her voice to be heard through the door. "We'll be back in like twenty minutes, so try to be done fucking like bunnies by then."

"Fuck you," she heard Simon grumble from inside, and she grinned. Clary walked back down the hallway and down the steps, and looked toward the lounge where Max was sitting on the couch, a blanket pulled over his lap as he watched the early morning cartoons. Jace was sitting on the arm of the couch next to him, and Max was leaning to the side slightly, so that his head was resting against the side of Jace's thigh. The two of them were comfortable around each other, and they had just gotten closer since Jace and Clary had officially become a couple.

"Do you want to come to the store with us, Max?" Clary asked as she slid on a pair of shoes that were in the doorway. "We're going to get the ingredients for eggs benedict."

"Uh," Max looked over at Clary and then back at the TV with a hopeful look in his eyes. Clary grinned, knowing the look.

"Okay, buddy, you stay here," she told him, and he gave her a toothy smile. "You want us to get you anything?"

"The orange and fejoa juice that Uncle Jace sometimes brings?" He gave Jace a hopeful side look and the older man grinned, ruffling his hair.

"Sure thing," he nodded as he got up from where he was seated. "We'll see you soon." Max was already staring back at the TV, enraptured by the cartoon bionic machines battling it out. Clary and Jace headed outside, and Jace regretted not grabbing a jacket because the morning air had a chill to it. His Honda was parked at the curb, and they got in. It was almost funny, how frequently he was using this car, rather than his Porsche or Ferrari these days. His other cars drew a lot of attention when he was in this neighborhood, and given how often he ended up at Isabelle and Clary's place, it made sense to just always drive his Honda. Although every now and then, he and Clary would get in his Ferrari and drive out of the city, end up on the open road and accelerate like the car loved. Clary would laugh, roll all the windows down, her hair blowing everywhere and the radio turned up loud.

The things that Jace would do to hear that laugh...

It was almost pathetic how whipped he was by the red head, but he didn't care.

It was the most real thing he had felt in his life in a long time, what he had with Clary. It kept him grounded, and it resonated something warm and happy in his chest.

"Hey," Clary's voice was soft when they reached the store, and she put his hand on his knee. "You okay? You look like you're a hundred miles away?" When he focused on her face and she could see that she had his attention again. "And when you're sitting in a car with your hot ass girlfriend, your attention should really only be one place." Jace grinned at her, taking her hand and squeezing it.

"Just thinking about when you're going to take me up on the offer to move in to my building," he deflected, not quite ready to get into a conversation about how much he cared for her in a convenience store parking lot. And, it wasn't as though he was lying. He thought a lot about whether or not she was going to agree to move into his building. While she still claimed that she was 'thinking about it', he was pretty sure that he had managed to talk her around. But the 'when' of the whole thing was still up in the air. "Especially now that you're no longer working at the club here, and Izzy and Max are going to be moving in with Simon soon."

"But they're not living with him yet," Clary reminded him as she got out of the car and waiting for him to get out. Jace got out of the car, locked it, then circled around to where Clary was standing and took her hand, linking their fingers together. "I'm pretty sure that moving a girl into your fancy hotel building isn't something that you usually do within a couple of months of dating," she told him as they started inside. "That's practically moving in together." Jace knew that that was a big hold back for her, feeling as though she was moving in with him, loosing some of her independence when it was something that she held onto for so long, only relenting it when it came to Simon, Isabelle and Max.

"It's not, though," Jace and her had had this conversation a hundred times already. "You can be on one of the lower floors, on the opposite side of the building—I'll even text or call before I come over." There was a smile twitching on Clary's mouth, and he grinned. Clary's hand that wasn't holding Jace's reached out for a basket as they entered the store and Jace let her lead the way toward the bakery section. Clary was going through the loaves of bread, which smelt amazing and were all springy from being freshly baked, when Jace heard a familiar voice calling out his name. Both of them looked up to see Maia and Jordan walking their way, arms wrapped around each other.

"Maia!" Clary grinned and released Jace's hand, walking over to her friend and giving her a quick hug. "Hey!"

"Hey, yourself," Maia smiled and nodded over at Jace, who reached out and shook Jordan's hand. "Hardly see you around anymore, now that you've left the club. You and Isabelle were the only ones I looked forward to seeing at that hell hole."

"Although she's not going to be there for too much longer," Jordan nudged Maia's shoulder, and there was a proud smile on his face. Jace and Clary exchanged looks as Maia's grin grew and she ducked her head before resting her hand over her stomach. "We're pregnant," Jordan said and Clary's eyebrows shot upward.

"You're kidding?! Oh my god!" Clary laughed and gave Maia another hug, and Jace clapped his hand down on Jordan's shoulder.

"Congratulations," Jace told Jordan earnestly. The girls started talking rapidly, and the two men stepped aside, apart from them. "So I guess that you guys are actually a thing now? Last time we talked, you said she wasn't your girl." The dopey smile on Jordan's face answered the question before he even opened his mouth.

"We found out that she was pregnant about three weeks ago. Or at least, I found out about three weeks ago, she knew a little bit before that, she just took her time to think before telling me," he said, keeping his voice low. "And, I mean, it wasn't exactly something that I wanted right now, but there was never any question about whether or not she was keeping it. She started talking about how her parents always fought and were never together and that she didn't want that, and she wanted to make sure her child had a dad and everything—I think that she thought I was going to be pissed at her or something—"

"And instead you asked her if she wanted to get together?" Jace surmised and Jordan let out a snort.

"Something like that," he made a face. "I may or may not have been a bit of a mess for a good half an hour before I managed to actually get a sentence together."

"Good for you," Jace said earnestly. "You guys will be good together." He glanced over to the girls before continuing. "Are you still working with Valentine? Are you still planning on doing that when the baby comes?"

"Yeah," Jordan shrugged, not looking worried about it. "I know that it's no big company job like some of us have," he punched Jace lightly in the shoulder with a lop-sided smirk. "But I like it. It's good money, and I can afford to keep my woman comfortable," his eyes widened. "My woman and my kid," he corrected himself and Jace let out a laugh. Jordan checked the time on his phone and then cringed. "Shit, we should probably be off. We're actually on our way to see my parents...Tell them the news."

"They cut you off, right?" Jace asked hesitantly.

"Yup," Jordan twisted his mouth. "Kind of hoping that the news of a grandkid on the way might at least be enough to start mending fences."

"Well, good luck. And you've got my number—make sure you let me know how things go," he leaned forward and they gave each other a one armed hug, slapping each other on the back before calling over to Clary and Maia, letting them to know they had to go their separate ways. Once they were alone again, Jace raised his eyebrows at Clary, who shrugged and grinned.

"Good on them," she noted.

"Yeah," Jace murmured as he watched the couple go, shaking his head a little as he turned back to Clary, who had gone back over to the shelves of bread and had picked one up. It was funny to think back on his and Jordan's conversation which felt like a couple of years ago, but in reality was only a few months. Jordan and Maia weren't together, and Jace was with Kaelie.

Sometimes things change fast.

"Did you want to go and grab some salmon and bacon?" Clary asked as she started walking toward the aisle that had the sauces down it.

"Salmon and bacon?" Jace raised an eyebrow.

"Me and Max like it with bacon, but Izzy and Simon like it with salmon. And now that we've got a little more money, we can afford to buy it more often," Clary wiggled her eyebrows at him playfully. "So go on, make yourself useful." Jace rolled his eyes at her and turned around, setting off at a brisk walk toward the end of the store where there was a chilled section. Clary found the brand of hollandaise sauce that they liked and was about to move on to the next aisle when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Jace?" She questioned with a smile as she turned around and then froze when she saw who was standing there.

"Clary," Jonathon stated with a nervous look on his face, his eyes flickering from side to side before resting back on her face. For a few beats, the siblings just stared at each other, before Clary cleared her throat and took in a breath through her nose.

"Jon," her voice was almost inaudible.

"It's, uh," Jonathon ran his fingers through his hair, scratching the back of his head nervously. "It's been a long time. I didn't actually realize that you still lived around here. I knew that you did a year or so ago, I saw you with this little kid—is he...Is he yours?" He stammered out and shoved his hands into his pocket.

"No," Clary shook her head. "He's a friends." Jonathon nodded, licking his lips. He opened his mouth to say something when Jace came walking toward them, holding a package of salmon in one hand, and a package of bacon in the other.

"Do you guys have any particular brand you prefer?" Jace was asking. "Or are you just good with any?" When he reached Clary and looked up at her, seeing Jonathon standing there and the pair looking uncomfortable, he started. "You guys know each other?" Clary heaved out a breath and then Jace glanced between them again, noting a couple of subtle similarities between the two and something clicked in his head. "Wait, Jon, your brother, is Jonathon?" He asked.

"You know him?" Clary frowned.

"Yeah, he works for..." Jace paused, wondering if Clary knew what her brother did for a living. Hold on, her brother. "Valentine is your father?" The words sounded a little breathless as he stared at Clary.

"You've met Valentine?" Clary sounded concerned and Jace bit down on the corner of his lip.

"Jordan works for Valentine, with the cars," Jace explained, his eyes sliding over to Jonathon, who was watching them both in interest. "And because I sometimes worked for Jordan, I've met Valentine a couple of times." He vaguely remembered a conversation that he had had with Valentine about his daughter, about how he never saw her anymore and how she was strong and reminded him of her mother. That aligned with everything that Clary had told him, but it seemed like such a small world for those things to all match up.

"Huh," Clary huffed out. "Weird." The three fell into a tense silence and Jonathon finally made a noise in his throat, looking between Clary and Jace.

"So you guys are a thing?" Jonathon asked with a tilt of his head as he caught up with what was going on.

"Yes," Jace answered evenly. Jonathon nodded and looked down at his phone, which was vibrating in his hand.

"I should probably be going," he muttered. "But I'll, uh, see you around, Clary?" Clary made a non-committal noise and her mouth twisted into something that resembled a smile but was nothing close to the one Jace usually saw. In fact, it looked a hell of a lot similar to the sort of grimace-smile that he used to see her make when he first met and was getting to know her. Clary was completely still, even after Jonathon had disappeared, and Jace put his hand on her arm.

"You okay?" He asked gently.

"I'm fine," Clary nodded and held out the basket for him to put the meat into. "Just been a while since I've seen him around." She started walking again, and Jace followed after her, wondering if he should prompt any further conversation. But they had already talked about her family before, and he that she wasn't close to them, and at this point in her life, those weren't relationships that she wanted to pursue.

So he left it.

They finished their shopping and Clary gave him a narrow eyed look when he tried to pay for the whole lot when they got to the counter. They compromised and paid half each, and carried a bag each out to Jace's car. When they got inside, Clary still looked a bit pale, and Jace touched her jaw, sliding his thumb against the smooth skin.

"I don't have anything to do with them anymore," he told her quietly. "I'm not working with Jordan or Valentine—I don't see them anymore."

"That's fine," Clary responded. "And even if you were, it's not my place to ask you to stop." Jace's eyebrows pulled together in a frown.

"You wouldn't have to ask me," he said. "It would put you in a weird position and would make you uncomfortable. If it was something that I was still doing, I would stop." Clary's eyes softened, and her mouth curved upward, and she reached out to give him a soft, close-mouthed kiss.

"Let's get home," she murmured as she pulled back. "We've got hungry people we need to feed." Jace nodded, feeling content that she was in at least a bit of a better mood as they drove back to her place. Isabelle and Simon were up when they got back, taking their groceries inside and setting them down on the kitchen counter. Jace started making the coffee for the adults, and poured Max a glass of the orange and fejoa juice that they had brought specially for him, the little boy pulling himself up onto one of the barstools so that he could join the commotion in the kitchen. Isabelle and Clary started on breakfast and Simon got out plates and utensils.

"Are you working today?" Simon asked Clary as she put a couple of strips of bacon into the frying pan.

"Nah, no work today," she told him as she let out a squeak and jumped back as oil spat at her from the frying pan. Isabelle grumbled under her breath that she needed to be careful as she passed her a roll of paper towels to wipe off her wrist.

"Movie day?" Simon suggested with a grin.

"Movie day!" Max agreed loudly, smacking his hand down on the counter top. Jace laughed as some of the juice splashed over the rim of the glass. "Movie day!"

"I refuse to watch _The Matrix_ again," Clary began with a pointed look at both Jace and Simon, who simultaneously pouted.

"I second that," Isabelle added, and the two girls bumped hips in agreement as they moved around each other, Isabelle beginning to cook the salmon. Jace found the wooden chopping board underneath the counter, taking out the thick loaf of bread that Clary had chosen and beginning to slice it up.

"What about _Lion King_?" Max grinned adorably. "Everyone loves _The Lion King_."

"That's completely accurate, little man," Jace agreed.

"_Star Wars_?" Clary suggested. "We could watch the new one, for like the hundredth time."

"I'm always down for _Star Wars_," Simon grinned.

"Nerd," Isabelle said fondly. Simon mock-glared at her when Max giggled.

"Okay, breakfast, and then _Lion King_," Clary said. "Max, can you take everyone's drinks into the lounge while we finish breakfast?" He nodded solemnly, carefully getting off his barstool and carrying the first coffee cup toward the coffee table with both hands wrapped around it. Breakfast didn't take too long to finish up, and when they did, they all piled into the lounge. Isabelle, Simon and Max were on the couch, Max squished between the two of them, and after he finished eating, Simon's arm was along the back of the couch, his fingers touching the back of Isabelle's neck. Jace and Clary were on the large arm chair, Jace sitting on it properly while Clary was sitting cross ways on his lap, her legs hooked over the arm and her head tucked into the curve of his neck. His arm was securely around her waist, and every now and then, he would move to kiss her on the temple or the cheek.

The whole thing was so sweet and domestic, it almost felt like someone else's life, and he was just looking in. But this was _his life_ now, and he was a part of it, and the warmth of Clary's breath on his chest, seeping through his shirt, was enough to remind him of that and keep him grounded.

Jace stopped over thinking things, and concentrated on the Disney movie playing on the TV.

_Songs this time..._Symphony_ by Clean Bandit featuring Zara Lasson. Holy shit. So completely in love. _Shape of You_, the cover by Madilyn Bailey. This chick has _suuuch_ an incredible voice, I love most of her covers, but this one is amazing. And the song _Shout_, the version by Think Up Anger, that was on Riverdale. It's incredible. Also, I finally got around to watching _The Get Down_, and I can't believe I waited so long,_

_Let me know what songs you guys are listening to, and if you guys have seen _The Get Down_!_

_Did you guys like the chapter? Yes, no, maybe?_

_Leave a review, let me know what you think :)_

_Also, I would like to say Transgender Day of Visibility for the other day xx_

_If you guys are logged in and want a preview, just let me know, and I'll send one out!_


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